It’s no secret that semiconductor and other component shortages made most manufacturers halt or slow down their factories last quarter. The full-size pickup trucks are no exception. Q3 of 2021 shortages hit the U.S. pickup truck market in a significant way. Here is how the chips fell.
Full-size Truck U.S. Sales: Q3 2021
While all manufacturers who reported sales so far show double-digit sales decreases in Q3 2021, some manufacturers are actually up for the year (September through January). Take a look at the Q3 numbers first, then take a look at how they are doing for year.
| Model | Q3 2021 | Q3 2020 | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| GM Trucks (COMBINED) | 173,630 | 213,337 | -18.6% |
| Ford F-Series | 172,799 | 221,647 | -22.0% |
| Ram Trucks | 121,704 | 156,157 | -22.0% |
| Chevy Silverado | 120,856 | 145,525 | -16.9% |
| GMC Sierra | 52,774 | 67,812 | -22.2% |
| Toyota Tundra | 21,148 | 27,934 | -24.3% |
| Nissan Titan | 4,996 | 7,207 | -30.7% |
| — | |||
| –TOTAL: |
Full-size Truck U.S. Sales – YTD 2021
As you can see, the year-to-date numbers don’t paint as gloomy a picture as the third-quarter sales.. GM, Ram, and Nissan are showing sales growth despite terrible Q3 numbers. The Nissan Titan is showing a significant improvement of +17.4%. GMC Sierra and Ram Trucks are also showing solid improvements. The same cannot be said for the Chevy Silverado lineup as it decreased slightly.
Ford sales dropped 9.2% from where they were at this point last year. Toyota Tundra sales dropped by a greater proportion at 15.4%, though that’s likely because buyers are waiting for the new model (the first in over a decade) to arrive.
| Model | YTD 2021 | YTD 2020 | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| GM Trucks (COMBINED) | 598,452 | 584,612 | +2.4% |
| Ford F-Series | 534,831 | 589,034 | -9.2% |
| Ram Trucks | 434,772 | 402,410 | +8% |
| Chevy Silverado | 407,266 | 409,967 | -0.7% |
| GMC Sierra | 191,186 | 174,645 | +9.5% |
| Toyota Tundra | 65,013 | 76,814 | -15.4% |
| Nissan Titan | 22,772 | 19,403 | +17.4% |
| 1,655,840 | 1,672,273 | -1.0% | |
| –TOTAL: |
Update: Tables updated with Ford sales 10/4/2021. Overall, despite a tough third quarter, truck sales are only slightly down from where they were by October 2020. Whether sales recover at all during the fourth quarter will determine whether sales will look more positive from the end of 2020, or whether 2021 and its supply shortages had an even greater impact than what we saw last year.
