2 months ago
45
The title of Australia's top-seller of full-size US pick-ups has changed hands, as deliveries in the category break records – though only just, amid a sales slump for former leader Ram.
Chevrolet has overtaken Ram in US pick-up deliveries for the first time in Australia – after eight years of dominance – as fresh competition from Ford and Toyota helped the category scrape past last year's sales record.
Ram has led the market in Australia since it kick-started the US pick-up category with factory-backed left- to right-hand-drive remanufacturing operations at the end of 2015, the prior year outselling second-placed Chevrolet more than two-to-one.
But a sales slide for Ram – coinciding with an uptick in demand for Chevrolet – has seen positions swap on the top of the podium.
Chevrolet reported 3862 pick-ups as sold in 2024 across its three size classes – 1500, 2500 and 3500 – compared to 3852 Rams.
While Ram still leads 1500 sales – with 3239 deliveries reported year-to-date, compared to 2389 Chevrolet Silverado 1500s – the General Motors brand pulls ahead when sales of the larger pick-ups are included.
Ram sales almost halved last year (down 43.6 per cent) – including a 45.3 per cent slump for the Ram 1500 – as orders placed over the past two years are cleared, and demand in showrooms cools off.
Meanwhile, Chevrolet pick-up sales grew by 14.8 per cent last year – and are approaching Ram sales three years ago – about two-thirds of which are the Silverado 1500.
The changing of positions occurred in the final month of the year, as Ram finished November on 3532 sales, just ahead of Chevrolet's 3500 vehicles.
But both brands are threatened by Ford, which – after a stalled start with recalls and stop-delivery notices – reported more than 2000 F-150s as sold last year.
If it continues the trajectory of the past three months – with 794 F-150 deliveries, compared to 595 Silverado 1500s and 807 Ram 1500s – it could overtake Chevrolet in 1500-size pick-up sales this year.
With the F-150 in its showrooms, more than 90 per cent of new Fords sold in Australia are utes – alongside the Ranger – or four-wheel-drive SUVs, in the Everest.
An updated Ford F-150 is due in showrooms early this year, ahead of a facelifted Ram 1500 – with turbocharged petrol six-cylinder replacing V8 power – by the middle of the year.
Sales of US pick-ups across all brands were still up year-on-year – from 10,363 in 2023 to 10,611 last year – thanks to new arrivals such as Ford and, more recently, Toyota.
Toyota has also commenced regular customer deliveries of the 1500-sized Tundra in recent months, after rolling out 300 'real-world trial' vehicles to hand-picked customers early in 2024 to validate the quality of the pick-ups before the conversion program was given the green light.
Sales data published this week shows 469 Toyota Tundras were reported as sold in 2024, though this year's result is expected to surge as customer deliveries roll out.
Meanwhile the Ford 'remanufacturing' is run by Thai firm RMA, which conducts engineering work for the Blue Oval in the Asia-Pacific region, in addition to converting Ford Rangers for emergency services use overseas.
All have the backing of each car maker's respective head offices, and are covered by the same warranty as other vehicles in each brand's range – a point of difference compared to independent firms which import and convert US pick-ups to right-hand drive for sale locally.
US pick-up sales in Australia
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
