GM Holds the Line
While General Motors leads the full-size pickup truck market in the U.S., Ford tops the segment in terms of a single nameplate. It’s the same old story in the third quarter of this year, when GM sold 233,229 trucks, a 0.69% increase compared to the same period last year, to beat Ford. But looking at the numbers, the Blue Oval brand is gaining ground.
Ford sold 204,007 F-Series trucks in Q3 2026, 29,222 fewer than GM. That’s quite a drop compared to GM’s 44,524-unit lead in Q1 2026, which remained steady in the following quarter at 44,503. But perhaps the biggest contributor to this narrowing gap was the GMC Sierra, which sold 86,590 units in Q3 2026, 8,557 fewer (down 9%) than the previous quarter.
Ford
Detroit’s Heavyweight Showdown
These figures include the trucks’ all-electric variants, which also experienced declining sales. That doesn’t come as a surprise, considering that the $7,500 federal EV tax credit expired at the end of the third quarter last year, prompting buyers to rush their EV purchases before the deadline. The now-discontinued Ford F-150 Lightning likewise recorded a massive sales decline, but that was offset by stronger sales of conventional F-Series pickups.
As for the Chevrolet Silverado, the nameplate remained relatively steady after selling 144,984 units, a 4.4% increase year over year. Including the Silverado EV, which posted a 58% decline, sales increased 2.7% to 146,639 units.
Outside the sales numbers, some possible reasons why Ford may be closing the gap include its production recovery and higher Super Duty output. The former follows a fire at Novelis’ aluminum plant in New York that disrupted supplies for F-Series production last year. Meanwhile, Super Duty production reached 110,275 units in Q3 2026, its highest quarterly level in 19 years.
Cole Attisha
Next Power Play
On the GM front, some buyers may be holding off on placing orders, as the next-generation Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra are set to arrive at U.S. dealerships before the end of the year. They will come with boxier, more rugged styling, as well as new engines from GM’s sixth-generation small-block V8 family that deliver more power.
With that being said, it will be interesting to see whether Ford can further close the gap with GM in America’s lucrative full-size pickup segment. Ford will continue to compete with a refreshed version of the F-150 for the 2027 model year, meaning a major overhaul isn’t expected anytime soon.
Chevrolet
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