What's YOUR Guess Why RAM Trucks Are Creeping Up On Chevy And Will They Send Them To A Permanent 3rd Place?

One look at the February sales numbers and you'll see that there are some trending brands and models.

For the case of this article, we will just focus on RAM trucks in relation to the competition.

It gets kind of boring every month seeing Ford #1, then Chevy #2 in the sales race.

So we were intrigued this time when we saw RAM making a big move with sales up over 23%.

And what makes it interesting for the first time is that they are starting to breathe down Chevy's neck.

Only about 4500 units away.

Both Ford AND RAM sales were up but there was a drop in Silverado sales year against year.

So our questions are WHY is Chevy dropping, WHY is RAM making such a strong move and do you think RAM will overtake Chevy soon and make the horse race Ford vs. RAM going forward???

Spies, discuss...

skytop - 3/4/2016 6:19:40 PM

+3 Boost

RAM builds a better engineered truck, driveline and looks far better.

Chevy has lost its position in automobiles sales and is about to lose its position in trucks sales. America has made its decision.

Top 20 vehicles, current month's sales
Feb 2016 % Chg from
Feb '15 YTD 2016 % Chg from
YTD 2015
Ford F - Series PU 60,697 9.9 112,237 2.4
Chevrolet Silverado PU 43,136 -5.0 80,999 -0.6
Dodge Ram PU 38,555 23.2 68,493 14.3
Toyota Camry 32,405 -1.6 59,253 -0.8
Toyota Corolla / Matrix 29,342 5.4 51,704 -6.3
Nissan Altima 28,320 -0.5 50,476 -8.0
Honda Civic 27,707 31.7 54,448 37.0
Honda Accord 25,785 19.3 46,550 9.2
Toyota RAV4 25,523 16.3 47,077 12.7
Ford Fusion 25,442 11.9 45,319 6.8
Honda CR-V 25,250 13.2 44,458 -2.3
Ford Escape 23,854 14.1 43,073 5.1
Ford Explorer 22,389 20.3 39,003 9.4
Nissan Rogue 21,561 0.7 41,323 11.5
Chevrolet Malibu 21,418 53.3 36,164 39.9
Nissan Sentra 20,599 34.2 36,743 23.5
Chevrolet Equinox 19,825 -8.7 38,399 -7.0
Ford Focus 18,620 32.8 31,597 -2.8
Hyundai Sonata 17,470 24.9 32,679 24.0
Jeep Grand Cherokee 15,380 11.8 28,544 7.5
Source: www.motorintelligence.com

PUGPROUD - 3/4/2016 6:29:06 PM

+1 Boost

Ram trucks are better looking but deep discounts may play a role too.

mre30 - 3/4/2016 7:00:14 PM

+1 Boost

Most likely because they are cheaper!

MDarringer - 3/4/2016 9:08:09 PM

+2 Boost

They can be had for cheap. We have several heavy duty diesels as 5th wheel tow vehicles and they are performing well.

TomM - 3/5/2016 7:18:21 AM

+1 Boost

You are forgetting that GM has TWO truck lines - and together - they are neck and neck with Ford. Ultimately - GM will win this battle - if they want to. THey can afford to - and are already designing a new replacement with more aluminum - and remember that their trucks are already nearly as light as the Fords are without it. FCA does not have the money to design and build a new RAM replacement any time soon - so they have to resort to cashback - something that will work only for a while. If you are waiting for a true replacement for the RAM from FCA - I suggest cryogenics while waiting.

MDarringer - 3/5/2016 9:39:39 AM

+1 Boost

All new is not thr way the pickup world works and never has. The closest thing to an all-new pickup was the aluminum F150--and now Superduty--but that's pretty much an aluminum body on top of a re-engineered chassis with a lot of carry over. Ditto the GM trucks. They were most decidedly NOT all new, but rather an intelligently engineered-forward reworking of the previous truck.

Thus, given how the truck world works, an "all new" Ram probably will happen with new styling, updated transmissions, perhaps making diesel more available and that will be that.

Toyota--FOR YEARS--has had a legendary reputation of the Camry's durability and reliability and that is 100% because they rarely fixed what was not broken. The Camry is a perfect example of evolution. While the current Camry and the first have nothing in common, the current one was just a reskinning of the previous one. The previous one was a reskinning of the previous one with some additional engineering for hybridization. The one before it was...

MrEE - 3/5/2016 10:07:02 AM

+1 Boost

Should really add the GMC models in to see the real picture. Same with Hyundai being so low in the list is that they split their sales with KIA models.

Truthy - 3/5/2016 4:21:00 PM

+1 Boost

GM is making a concerted effort to reduce incentives and are currently below the industry average. FCA vehicles are hitting a wall and need huge incentives to sell them. They have additional dealer incentives on RAM as this volume helps their cash flow.
I believe it was reported on this site that Chevy had their best month since 2007. They seem to be coming back. Their new products are outstanding.

MDarringer - 3/6/2016 10:13:34 AM

+1 Boost

The Silverado is a very easy sell as is the Colorado. Dealer stock on both--here at least--moves quickly.

Ram needs a different manufacturer in charge to take it to the next level. I don't think FCA has the dollars to give the Ram the forward-thinking engineering it needs. FCA will no doubt give it a nip and a tuck to keep it relevant for another 5 years, but the heavy incentives to buy market share will reach a point where FCA cannot incentivize them enough to sustain growth.

Meanwhile, the F150, Silverado, and Sierra do not require steep incentivization (sic) to move the metal. Yes the discounting is competitive between Ford and Chevy, but not to the extent of Ram.

We needed three heavy duty trucks for pulling fifth-wheel auto carriers and the best buy was Ram.