Pickups continued to fly off dealer lots at a torrid rate in March 2018, with one manufacturer recording their best month for a popular model since calendar year 2000. And, oh yeah, the Jeep Wrangler had its strongest month of total sales in history.
Sure, it’s no surprise to learn that customers across the nation like pickup trucks, but the rate at which they’re being snapped up is astounding. First, though, the Wrangler.
READ MORE: Jeep Wrangler Pickup Truck Expected to Hit Dealers by April 2019
Total sales at the Jeep brand rose 45 percent in March compared to the same time last year to 98,382 vehicles, its best month ever. Coaxing this number along is the Wrangler, leading the group as sales rose to 27,829 vehicles in March 2018. It was the best month of sales ever for the nameplate, handily eclipsing the May 2015 record of 22,615 vehicles.
This is doubtlessly due to the buzz created by the new JL Wrangler, and it doesn’t hurt that they’ve started appearing in showrooms, luring in curious shoppers and die-hard Jeep fans alike. Whether those people drive off in a JK or a JL matters not – they’re both counted as Wranglers. This, too, pads the numbers.
Ford F-Series saw its 11th straight month of gains in March. Sales exceeded 87,000 trucks, while transaction pricing expanded by $1,700 compared to last year – to a heady $46,800 per truck, proving the appetite for Crew Cabs and high-trim level trucks. With total sales of 87,011 pickups, Ford F-Series saw its best March performance since we are all still paranoid about the Y2K bug.
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Ram pickup sales declined 10.9 percent to 41,307 vehicles when compared with the previous year. In a rare moment of insight, the company was quick to point out that retail sales of the Ram Light Duty pickup truck rose 8 percent to 26,050 vehicles. Manufacturers don’t usually break out numbers to that detail, leaving us to speculate how many of the “Ram P/U” sales are light-duty. Some quick back-of-napkin math proves that nearly two out of every three Rams sold are light duty. The new 2019 Ram 1500 pickup truck began shipping to dealers in the second half of the month.
GM’s pickup strategy saw gains, with sales up 19 percent in March, led by a 24 percent jump for the Silverado, a 52 percent hike for the Colorado, and a 9 percent increase for the Canyon. Those are month-to-month results. A more balanced examination reveals that in the first quarter, pickup deliveries were up more than 2 percent. Solid.
With that in mind, GM announced today it will begin reporting U.S. vehicle sales on a quarterly basis, effective immediately. For 2018, second quarter sales will be released on July 3, third quarter sales on October 2 and fourth quarter sales on January 3, 2019. This will toss a wrench into our Tracking Truck series but makes a bit of sense on a number of levels.
In the auto industry, monthly sales are subject to many issues that make them more volatile than quarterly sales like product launch activity, weather, and the number of selling days. It’ll be an adjustment for your humble author, just like when the industry moved from a 10-day reporting cycle to a 20-day reporting cycle before settling on monthly reports in 1993.
Outside the Detroit Three, green lights appeared across the board save for a slight dip in Titan sales when one looks solely at March. Year-to-date, though, all hands are looking at performances in the positive double-digit percentage points. The Frontier, in fact, is up nearly 50% so far this year, stunning when one considers the truck is older than time itself. They’ve nearly outsold the Colorado.
With remakes of two popular pickups on the way, not to mention the hot new Wrangler hitting dealer lots, now would be an opportune time for customers who don’t mind driving the old model to strike a deal.