Updated 28 September 2026. The US sold an estimated 1,381,000 new vehicles in August 2026 at a 16.8 million SAAR (Cox Automotive), and electric vehicles took 5.7% of the month. Current figures on the USA dashboard. This page now also carries our former long-form pickup article, with every figure re-sourced.
Here is a statistic that would sound absurd to anyone outside North America: the Ford F-Series pickup truck has been America's best-selling truck for 49 consecutive years and its best-selling vehicle for 44 years, in Ford's own words. Not only the best-selling truck: the best-selling vehicle. More than any sedan, more than any SUV, more than any crossover. A full-size pickup truck, with an average transaction price above 55,000 dollars, outsells everything else on the American market year after year after year.
The Scale of Truck Dominance
Ford sold 828,832 F-Series trucks in the US in 2025, up 8.3% on 2024's 765,649, according to Ford's full-year sales release (Ford, 6 January 2026). Stellantis sold 374,059 Ram pickups, light and heavy duty combined (FCA US, 5 January 2026). Those two nameplates alone come to 1,202,891 trucks, about 7.4% of the estimated 16.3 million new vehicles Americans bought in 2025 (Cox Automotive), before counting a single Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra or Toyota Tundra. GM says the Silverado and Sierra had their best combined year in two decades.
For the segment as a whole, Cox Automotive and Kelley Blue Book counted nearly 183,000 full-size pickups sold in November 2025, 14.2% of all new-vehicle sales that month (Cox, 9 December 2025), and more than 233,000 in December, the segment's best month in five years. Cox ranks full-size pickups as a volume-leading segment behind only compact and mid-size SUVs. No public source publishes a full-year 2025 pickup share, so AutoNergy does not quote one.
Smaller pickups are growing too. Ford's compact Maverick set a record at 155,051 units in 2025, and the mid-size Ranger reached 70,960.
Why This Only Happens in America
Pickup trucks are not unknown in other markets. Australia has the HiLux. Thailand has a thriving pickup segment. But nowhere else do full-size trucks dominate the way they do in the US. Several factors explain this.
First, fuel costs. American petrol prices, even at their 2024 levels, are roughly half what European drivers pay. When fuel is cheap, the efficiency penalty of a 2,500-kilogram truck matters much less. Second, road and parking infrastructure. American roads are wider, parking spaces are larger, and suburbs are built around cars, not pedestrians. A vehicle that would be impractical in central Dublin or Mumbai is perfectly comfortable in suburban Houston.
Third, trade policy. The 25% "chicken tax" on imported light trucks, in place since 1964, has kept most European and Asian brands out of the full-size segment, leaving it to the Detroit makers and trucks built in North America. Fourth, tax treatment. In the US, businesses can deduct the full purchase price of vehicles over 6,000 pounds GVWR (which includes most full-size trucks) under Section 179 of the tax code. This creates a powerful financial incentive for small business owners, contractors, and self-employed professionals to buy trucks even if they rarely use the bed for hauling. Fifth, cultural identity. The pickup truck occupies a unique space in American culture that has no equivalent elsewhere. It signals independence, capability, and a connection to a working tradition that transcends actual job requirements.
The Electric Truck Question
The arrival of electric trucks (the Ford F-150 Lightning, Rivian R1T, and Chevrolet Silverado EV) has been one of the most watched developments in the US market. The F-150 Lightning launched with enormous hype in 2022 and initial sales were strong. But by 2024, the pace had slowed. Ford cut prices multiple times and reduced production targets.
The problem is not that electric trucks are bad products. By most reviews, the Lightning is a genuinely capable truck. The problem is economics. A base F-150 with a V6 engine starts around 35,000 dollars. The Lightning starts around 50,000. For price-sensitive truck buyers (and despite the high average transaction prices, many truck buyers are stretching their budgets), that gap is still too wide. Range is also a concern. Towing a trailer cuts an electric truck's range roughly in half, which limits its utility for the work-use buyers who are a core part of the truck market.
SUVs Complete the Picture
Beyond trucks, the US SUV market is massive and varied. The Toyota RAV4 is one of the overall top sellers. The Tesla Model Y (classified as a crossover SUV) was the best-selling non-truck for much of 2024. The Chevy Equinox, Honda CR-V, and Jeep Grand Cherokee all post six-figure annual sales numbers. The American market has essentially become a two-tier system: trucks and SUVs for the majority, and a shrinking pool of sedans (mostly Toyota Camry, Honda Civic, and Tesla Model 3) for those who still want a traditional car.
What the Rest of the World Can Learn
The US market is often dismissed as an outlier by European and Asian automotive analysts. But the underlying trend (consumers choosing larger, higher-riding vehicles when infrastructure and economics permit) is universal. India's compact SUVs are overtaking hatchbacks. The UK market has shifted decisively toward crossovers. The US just got there first, and went further, because the conditions (cheap fuel, wide roads, tax incentives) enabled it.
See the full US market breakdown on AutoNergy. The Overview dashboard shows how the American vehicle mix compares to Ireland, UK, and India across all segments and fuel types.