Fiat Chrysler has figuratively rammed against General Motors' Chevrolet Silverado for the second spot in America's ranking of the hottest-selling pickup trucks in the third quarter of 2019, latest sales figures showed.
As embattled rival GM deals with a crippling strike that has forced the automaker to halt production of its pickups, Fiat Chrysler's Ram has outmuscled the Silverado for the first time this year. Ford's F-Series pickups still lead the race.
Based on Fiat's sales numbers posted late Wednesday, its Ram lineup enjoyed a huge lead of more than 50,000 units for the month of September. Customers in the US alone acquired more than 460,000 Ram trucks, an increase of more than 20 percent in the same period of 2018. GM sold 409,315 Silverados in the same quarter, a decline of 3.5 percent from the previous year.
In full-size category, sales of the Ram sped up 15 percent, from 142,045 to 161,636; GM's Silverado had a 15 percent rally to 155,481 from 133,329; while Ford's F-Series, interestingly, retreated 5 percent from 227,881 to 214,175. Fiat Chrysler and General Motors saw total profits increase in the quarter.
While Ford's truck sales sunk, its F-Series remained as the most popular pickup in the US with 662,575 sold the current month, down 2.3 percent from the previous year. According to auto expert John Gabrelsen, whatever the result in any month or quarter, "the long term trend is for Ram to beat Chevrolet" in the second place.
Full-size pickups from the three-car giants from Michigan are most of the time the best selling trucks in the US, whose passion for muscle-vehicles is unquestionable. And though the rankings vary at times in terms of monthly sales, it is Ford that is always on top, with the Silverado and Ram trailing behind.
Based on a GM report, sales from its pickup series are low this year because the company's suppliers were depleted as it switched assembly lines in order to build new models of its light-duty and heavy-duty types.
GM said Silverado retail sales to individual clients are brisk. Excluding deliveries to rental establishments and other fleet clients, the Silverado and Sierra versions outperform Ford and Fiat Chrysler in the full-size monthly sales department, GM disclosed.
Total sales of new US full-size pickups dropped 1.4 percent in the first nine months compared with last year, based on the Edmunds.com auto pricing website. Americans, the site said, purchased more than 12 million vehicles for September alone.
