Best-Selling Truck in America
Author: Jon Hedges
Jon has 40 years of marketing experience in the automotive aftermarket industry.
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What is the most popular truck in America? We’ve analyzed vehicle sales for nearly two decades and here’s our analysis of the best-selling trucks in America, updated for 2026.
CLICK TO ENLARGE: New light trucks and SUVs generate $5.90 in sales revenue for every $1 that new cars generate.
Pickup sales reach 3 million
Total new registrations of light trucks* and SUVs in the US were nearly 12 million in 2023. Pickup trucks alone came in at about 2.1 million units in 2021, 2.7 million in 2022, 2.8 million in 2023, 2.9 million in 2024, and about 3 million in 2025. We’re projecting a slight increase to about 3.1 million in 2026.
2021 was down 20% from 2020, due to COVID-related supply chain shortages, especially for computer chips required for these vehicles.
*Note that the definition of a “light truck” comes from GVWR classes and includes pickups, SUVs, CUVs and even some station wagons.
2026: 50 years as the best-selling truck!
Ford F-Series: best selling truck of all time
The Ford F-Series is the most popular truck and best-selling truck in the US. It’s also the best-selling vehicle, period.
Ford’s golden anniversary in 2026 for best selling truck
2026 marks the 50th consecutive year the Ford F-Series is the most popular truck in America. It’s the golden anniversary for the F-series. Its reign as the most popular truck began in 1977, according to Ford.
In the last five years (2020-2025) alone, Ford sold 4.6 million F-Series pickup trucks.
Ford F-Series trucks are also the most popular vehicle including cars in the US, not just most popular truck, across 4 decades.
The first F-series, the Ford F1, was introduced way back in January, 1948, 77 years ago. Although popular in post-war America, it took 29 years for the F-Series to move to the top of the best-selling full-size trucks list.
History of the F-Series
The F-Series originally came out with the Ford F-1 through F-8 pickups. The F-1 was the lightest as a 1/2-ton truck with a GVWR rating of 4,700 lbs. It was followed by the 5,700-GVWR 3/4-ton F-2 pickup. The F-3 was a 3/4-ton “heavy duty” truck.
The second generation appeared as a 1953 model with the Ford F-100 replacing the F-1.
Today’s F-Series includes the F-150, F-150 Lightning, F-250, F-350, F-450 pickups and the F-550, F-650 and F-750 chassis models.
Ford Lightning discontinued
Ford announced the new all-electric F-150 Lightning on May 20, 2021. It first sold as a 2022 model year truck, and it ended production as a 2025 model year truck. With Ford Intelligent Backup Power, it had enough power to run a home in a blackout for up to 10 days. It also had a 9.6 kW option to run power tools and other accessories, using eleven 120 volt and 240 volt outlets.
The initial 2022 model year quickly sold out but only sold about 33,500 Lightnings in 2024.
Most popular truck in America: full-size pickups
| Full-Size Pickup | 2025 Sales | 2024 Sales | 2023 Sales | 2022 Sales | 2021 Sales | 2020 Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ford F-150 incl. EV | 829,000 | 835,000 | 748,000 | 618,000 | 720,000 | 850,000 |
Chevy Silverado incl. EV | 588,000 | 560,000 | 553,000 | 530,000 | 520,000 | 575,000 |
Ram | 374,000 | 373,000 | 444,000 | 569,000 | 550,000 | 620,000 |
GMC Sierra incl. EV | 356,000 | 299,000 | 294,000 | 249,000 | 236,000 | 230,000 |
Toyota Tundra | 147,600 | 159,500 | 122,000 | 82,000 | 82,000 | 110,000 |
Honda Ridgeline | 48,500 | 45,000 | 53,000 | 41,000 | 40,000 | 33,000 |
Tesla Cybertruck | 25,500 | 23,800 | 3,200 | – | – | – |
Nissan Titan/Titan HD | 2,000 | 13,000 | 21,000 | 27,000 | 27,000 | 31,000 |
We’re projecting 2026 unit sales of full-size pickups at around 3.1 million, up from 3 million in 2025 and 2.9 million in 2024.
In 2023, 3.7 light trucks sold for every automobile. That’s up from 3.6 in 2021 and 2.5 in 2019.
If you ask what is the best selling truck in America, it seems like they all are! America loves its pickup trucks.
You can see in the chart the Ford F-series pickups continue their traditional dominance as the most popular pickup truck in the US. Any list of the most popular trucks has to start with the Ford F-150.
Ram pickup is number 3
The Ram pickup isn’t the most popular truck in America but it made a run for it. The Ram pickup probably won’t ever be the best selling truck in America but it “picked up” second place 2019 through 2022. That spot traditionally belonged to the Chevy Silverado, but Ram sales have been trending down which put the Silverado back at the number two spot for 2023-2025.
More on the top selling trucks in America
The list continues with Chevy Silverado’s sister pickup, the GMC Sierra, at number four. GM enthusiasts like to point out that if you combine sales of the Silverado and Sierra, it becomes the number one truck, with 2025 sales at 944,000.
After the GMC Sierra, then you have the Toyota Tundra (#5), Honda Ridgeline (#6) and Nissan Titan and Titan XD (#6).
The most popular fuel for full-size pickup trucks is gasoline or flex fuel. The heavy-duty versions of these trucks use diesel fuel.
Most popular mid-size and compact trucks in America
| Mid Size Pickup | 2025 Sales | 2024 Sales | 2023 Sales | 2022 Sales | 2021 Sales | 2020 Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Toyota Tacoma | 274,600 | 193,000 | 235,000 | 216,000 | 248,000 | 240,000 |
| 2. Ford Maverick | 155,000 | 157,000 | 93,100 | 73,100 | 12,800 | |
| 3. Chevy Colorado | 108,000 | 98,000 | 71,000 | 89,000 | 63,000 | 120,000 |
| 4. Ford Ranger | 71,000 | 51,500 | 32,000 | 57,000 | 94,000 | 83,000 |
| 5. Nissan Frontier | 67,000 | 70,000 | 58,000 | 76,000 | 50,000 | 72,000 |
| 6. Jeep Gladiator | 56,800 | 42,000 | 55,000 | 78,000 | 89,000 | 40,000 |
| 7. GMC Canyon | 36,500 | 38,500 | 22,000 | 28,000 | 22,000 | 32,000 |
| 8. Hyundai Santa Cruz | 23,900 | 32,000 | 36,300 | 36,200 | 9,900 | – |
| 9. Tesla Cybertruck | 26,100 | 23,800 | – | – | – | – |
| 10. Rivian R1T | not avail. | 19,200 | 19,000 | 10,000 | – | – |
In the mid-size/compact pickup category, you can see how Toyota dominates with the mid-size “Taco.” It easily outsells the second most popular smaller truck, the compact Ford Maverick. The mid-size Chevy Colorado comes in third.
Ford Ranger moves up to fourth
The mid-size Ford Ranger has moved up to the fourth spot ahead of the Nissan Frontier. Then you have the Jeep Gladiator, GMC Canyon, the compact Hyundai Santa Cruz, the infamous Tesla Cybertruck and the electric Rivian R1T comes in last.
The Jeep® Gladiator mid-size pickup (also known as the Jeep JT) has slumped from its peak in 2021 when it sold 89,000 units.
You may also be interested in our article on Jeep® owner demographics or truck owner demographics.
Pickup truck brands in this article
We cover Ford, Ram, Chevrolet, GMC, Jeep, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Hyundai, Tesla and Rivian pickups in this article. But there are several makes and models not available in the US.
One pickup truck brand not included is Jiangling, a pickup truck brand in Asia manufactured in China and commonly called JMC. Jiangling pickup trucks include the Baodian and Yuhu.
Another brand not included is Great Wall, another Asian pickup brand manufactured in China. Great Wall manufactured the Wingle 3, replaced by the Wingle 5 and Wingle 6 (also sold in the UK as the Great Wall Steed).
Another brand is Mitsubishi, manufacturer of the Triton pickup (also known as the L200 in most markets around the world, as well as the Mitsubishi Strada and Fiat Fullback).
This article is copyrighted, but it’s polite to share! This content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License and can be distributed or quoted, with attribution given to Hedges & Company, and a link back to this article from your website.
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