2023 Ford Super Duty F-350 Limited
Passage
DETROIT – America kept its love affair with trucks in 2023 — but a top-selling vehicle from Toyota Motor almost ruined their tailgate party.
Sales of the Toyota RAV4 compact crossover reached 10,000 units StellandisRam pickup truck last year, hardly. 3 ranking which would mark the first time since 2014 that a non-receive claimed one of the top three US sales spots.
The RAV4 quickly closed the gap: In 2020, the vehicle undersold the Ram truck by more than 133,000 units. Last year, it was just 9,983 behind. Stellantis sold 444,926 Ram pickups last year, down 5 percent from 2022.
“Trucks are always at the top because they’re being purchased not only by individuals but also by fleet buyers and we saw heavy fleet purchases last year,” said Michelle Krebs, executive analyst at Cox Automotive. “The RAV4 shows that people want affordable, smaller SUVs, and the fact that there’s also a hybrid version makes it popular with people.”
At 750,789 sales, Ford Motor’s The F-Series pickups, which include the F-150 and its bigger siblings, led the industry for 42n.d consecutive year. They followed them General Motors’ Chevrolet Silverado pickup with sales of 543,780 units.
The top five was completed by the RAV4 with 434,943 sales and the Tesla Model Y at 394,497, according to Motor Intelligence sales figures and estimates. (Tesla does not disclose regional sales per vehicle.) Model Y moved up one spot in the rankings compared to 2022.
Toyota RAV4
The success of the RAV4 is remarkable. It aligns with Toyota’s growing lead as America’s second-best-selling automaker, behind GM but outselling Ford every year through 2020.
Toyota first surpassed Ford during the coronavirus pandemic and has continued to widen its sales lead since then, surpassing the Detroit automaker by more than 250,000 units in 2023.
The Japanese automaker also beat GM to become the country’s top-selling automaker for the first time in 2021 amid major production and supply chain disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. GM has since regained its crown and outsold Toyota by hundreds of thousands of vehicles in 2022 and 2023.
Ivan Drury, director of information at Edmunds, said the RAV4 and the Honda CR-V, which ranked sixth last year in sales, offer something completely different from American pickups: Small, affordable vehicles that fit the lifestyle and budgets of many Americans at a high level. interest rates and economic uncertainty.
“It’s all these other problems that we’ve had in the last year that are forcing people into practical purchases,” he said. “I think these vehicles speak to the most practical purchase you can buy.”
Total sales
New vehicle sales were stronger and more stable than expected throughout 2023, marking the industry’s best year yet sales from 2019.
Motor Intelligence reports that automakers sold 15.6 million vehicles in the U.S. in 2023, up 12.3 percent from 2022. That compares with more than 17 million vehicles sold in 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the global auto market.
December sales, reported this week, were surprisingly strong as automakers ramped up stimulus spending to carry products.
Year-to-date car sales rose 13% compared with December 2022, more than double some analysts’ forecasts.
Auto analysts and forecasters expect sales this year to range between about 15.6 million and 16.1 million vehicles. GM said Wednesday it expects the industry to reach 16 million units in 2024.
Here are the 10 best-selling vehicles in the US by unit sales for 2023, according to Motor Intelligence.
1. Ford F-Series: 750,789 units – up 14.8% from 2022
2024 Ford F-150 Raptor
Passage
2. Chevrolet Silverado: 543,780 – up 5.9%
2024 Chevrolet Silverado HD ZR2
GM
3. Ram pickups: 444,926 – down 5%
A RAM vehicle is shown at the New York Auto Show, April 13, 2022.
Scott Mlyn | CNBC
4. Toyota RAV4: 434,943 – up 8.8%
5. Tesla Model Y: 394,497 – up 56.5%
Tesla Model Y
Courtesy: Tesla
6. Honda CR-V: 361,457 – up 51.8%
7. GMC Sierra: 295,737 – up 22.4%
2022 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali Ultimate
GM
8. Toyota Camry: 290,649 – down 1.5%
9. Nissan Rogue: 271,458 – up 45.6%
10. Jeep Grand Cherokee: 244,594 – up 9.5%
Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk PHEV Concept
Jeep