Toyota Overtakes Dodge In 2008 Pickup Truck Sales Marking 1st Time EVER An Import Brand Is In Top 3!

We knew it wasn't going to be pretty. The numbers are in for 2008 U.S. auto sales, and pickup trucks were hit particularly hard, reaching their lowest sales levels in more than a decade. The Wall Street Journal says U.S. auto sales declined 18 percent in 2008, to 13.24 million vehicles —the lowest total since 1992. Of those, 2 million were pickups, sales of which fell 26.5 percent from 2007's 2.73 million.

High fuel prices chased casual truck buyers out of big pickups in the first half of the year, and the shattered housing and credit markets stopped core-truck buyers from shopping for new trucks to replace their old ones.