Dec. 2004 midsize truck sales:

Chevrolet Colorado
12,726
Toyota Tundra
11,555
Ford Ranger
8,670 down 25%
Dodge Dakota
7,721
Nissan Frontier
5,000 approx.
GMC Canyon
3,288

Could not fine Frontier #'s (sales too low) so I used past avgs.

If GM added a DoD V8 or Diesel and upped the tow rating to 6,000 they could easily keep the Colorados lead on Toyota, Maybe even add some small interior upgrades to keep up with Toyota & Dodge.

edit: found Canyon info

 

The tundra is Toyotas version of a full size. The tacoma is mid size and is all new. The reviews rave about its off road capabilities and its lexus like ride and cabin. It's won truck of the year in a few mags already. Its going o be a big hit.

 

Two numbers surprise me a bit.

#1 is Canyon... I am somewhat surprised it is (approx) that low, especially since Colorado is so high. Very odd for vehicles that are basically clones.

#2 is, I can't believe Ranger is still selling that many units, even though it has dropped significantly. Must be a lot of die hard Ford truck fans that don't want a full size truck, because, while Ranger has served Ford well.... it's the Astro of pickup trucks at this point.... It's ancient.

 

I was using pickuptruck.com for my data. http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_...eries_0105.xls has all GM info.

Canyon sold 3,288 Colorado sold 12,726 Giving the GMT355 a total of 16,014 for Dec. 4,455 or 38.6% more than the next closest truck Toyota Tacoma.

Ford Ranger was still #1 for the year with 156,322 sales (and that is down 25% from 2003), Toyota is very close behind. Ranger sold 12,443 is Dec. 2003 and is down to 8,670 for 2004.

Ford owned the midsize truck market by a lot, now they are basically giving away that segment to Chevy and Toyota on a silver platter.

 

Darth, the Chevy/GMC clones sell in vastly different volumes every year. It is not an even split.

Chevy sells ~700k+ Silverados every year (not enough to take the F-Series alone), while GMC sells ~200k-ish Sierras (maybe closer to 300k now?). The two put together are enough to outsell (or come very close to) the F-Series line.

I'm not too surprised to see the Canyon being outsold by the Colorado, even though I think the Canyon is a little nicer looking.

Remember, Chevy has a large advantage in terms of the number of dealers across the country, I'd imagine.

Either way, this is good news. I hope they keep it up...

 

Ah. Thanks for the info.

I knew that Chevy outsold GMC handily... but I figured it was a 2 to 1 kind of ratio , not so drastic....

 

Evidently, they didn't quite catch the F-Series this year (of which the light-duties were all new for '04).

2004 Truck sales (from pickuptruck.com)

F-Series = 939,511
Silverado = 680,768
Sierra = 213,756

(total GM) = 894,524

So Ford was still ahead by about 45k units. But the year before, the GM twins were ahead, based on the same website (the Ford numbers for '04 supposedly represent an increase of 11% over '03, while the GM numbers were down a half-percent or so).

 

Actually GM did out sell Ford for 2004 fullsize pickup sales. You are forgetting the Avalanche

Avalanche = 80,566
Silvarado = 680,768
Chevy total = 761,334
Sierra = 213,756
GM total = 975,090 GM sold 35,579 more fullsize trucks than Ford in '04

 

Cool! Though I personally don't really count the Avalanche as the same as a Silverado. The Silverado and Sierra are the same truck with different front ends, actual pickup trucks. The Avalanche is basically a Suburban with the back cut off (the bed and body are all one unit, not separated like on the Silverado).

But you are right, it is a pickup truck (and based on the GMT800 frame), and it is a full size, so GM did sell more full size pickup trucks than Ford in '04.

 

What amazes me is how much more the Chevy sells despite the fact I don't like either front end of the Chevys over the GMCs! I have been tossing around the idea of buying a Canyon for awhile over a G6 or Cobalt, and I will say I'd buy the GMC over the Chevy solely for the nose...I hate chrome bars.

At this point though, those are pipe dreams...who knew owning a house would cost so much??

 

It amazes me too. In Canada, Sierra actually outsells Silverado so I guess a lot of Canucks agree.

 

aren't the GMC trucks usually more expensive? if their base price is similar, the GMCs usually come preloaded with more features where a lot of Chevys come bare-bones so they are right around MSRP - GM's 5k per truck discount. I'd go with a Chevy too if it meant a slighly more ugly truck but for a good margine of cash less than the same one from GMC.

 

Actualy, I favor the Chevy front ends over any truck out there. So agressive, so in your face, so truck. Everything, including the GMC, have soft and boring styling. Onlything else thats in your face is the Ram.

 

really, the gmc is the same thing except the top parking lights are rounded (and less chrome bar of course)
and i think the dakota would probably say more "in your face" than the clown looking ram
jmho though

 

I agree Chevy trucks look mean, I like their looks the best, chrome bar and all.