Despite ongoing turmoil in the automotive industry, Ford Motor Company closes out 2023 with bragging rights as the F-Series trucks dominated truck sales in the U.S. for the 47th year in a row and remained the bestselling vehicle for the 42nd year in a row.
"From the Bee Gees to Taylor Swift and the Apple II to Apple iPhone, If change is the only constant in life then there’s something reassuring that more than half of Americans have grown up only knowing that Ford F-Series is America’s bestselling vehicle," Mike Levine, director of Ford North America product communications, told the Detroit Free Press.
Ford sold more than 700,000 pickups during the year. And while a few days remain in December, the hard numbers make it nearly impossible for competitors General Motors or Ram-parent Stellantis to knock Ford from its perch.
"We're 200,000 trucks ahead of the Chevy Silverado. That's a big enough gap to declare victory," Ford spokesman Said Deep told the Free Press. "With only a few days left in the year, we know at this point we have truck leadership for the 47th year in a row. Just to tie Ford, Chevy would need to pack almost a half year of sales into the month of December."
Ford focused on towing comfort and capability in the 2023 F-series Super Duty pickups with new features and powerful new engines.
The legendary truck wars battle is significant not just because it reflects a consistent customer base but also because trucks generate massive revenue. Ford executives have told investors again and again that gas-powered trucks help fuel investment in electrification.
New king ‘ain't Eminem’
The year 1977, the year “Star Wars” was released, marked the beginning of dominance as the bestselling truck. Ford sold 818,580 F-Series pickups. From then to November 2023, Ford has sold 32,249,288 F-Series trucks, said Erich Merkle, Ford U.S. sales analyst
"There is a new king in the Motor City and it ain’t Eminem," he said.
This is a 1960 Ford F-100 pickup truck. In 1959, The F-100 and F-250 pickups became the first Ford trucks to offer a four-wheel-drive option. The F150 is a light-duty, half-ton truck while an F-250 is a three-quarter ton heavy duty truck for serious towing and hauling.
What was once seen as futuristic technology is now taken for granted. And key elements of the tech revolution have happened during the years Ford has maintained its lead with consumers.
In 1982, the first year F-Series became America’s bestselling vehicle, the line predated the first commercially available mobile phone for consumers, the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, which went on sale in 1983 — costing $3,995, could store 30 numbers and had 30 minutes of talk time, Levine said. "Today, every Ford F-Series truck has a standard built-in modem with Wi-Fi hotspot."
GM dismisses claim as ‘schmaltz’
Rival General Motors offered a completely different view of the situation.
"Our shareholders, dealers and employees would rather have us build the best trucks, sell the hell out of them and lead the market, which is exactly what we have done for the last four years with Chevrolet and GMC," GM spokesman Jim Cain told the Detroit Free Press. "The F-Series claim is nice to have but at the end of the day, it’s just marketing schmaltz for the Ford brand."
Truck wars has been defined for years as F-Series vs Chevy Silverado vs Ram 1500.
Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and ... Ford?
Yet academics in New York view the F-Series as so much more than a sales data point.
"The dominance of the F-Series pickup speaks volumes about how we see ourselves as Americans," said David Schmid, an English professor at the University at Buffalo in New York who specializes in popular culture.
"Nothing says 'Buy American' and 'We love America' like buying an F-Series pickup," Schmid said. "More importantly, the pickup truck, in general, and the F-Series, in particular, embodies the core American value of rugged individualism. Ford has been extremely successful in making this vehicle synonymous with the mythical ideal of American life on the frontier. Even if we only use our truck to carry nothing larger than the week's shopping, and go nowhere wilder than the local park, owning an F-Series allows us to feel plugged in to the long history of frontier individualism and conquering both the environment by living an adventurous life."
2023 Ford F-350
Because the messaging captures a magical ideal, it's "easy to make fun of and dismiss but, the truth is, this thinking sells a lot of trucks," Schmid said.
Meanwhile, Edward Catto, a business professor at Ithaca College in New York specializing in pop culture, compared Ford trucks to an iconic DC comic series.
"The Ford F-Series is like a pop culture automotive version of Batman," he said. "Like the Caped Crusader, these trucks change through the years, but always with a unique ability to both reflect the times and yet still be true to the brand’s own core essence.”
Brothers Ben Kaptur, left, and Mike Kaptur both who love The Flash pose for a photo on their iPhone with Batman and Superman cosplayers during the Motor City Comic Con at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023.
The Ford sales data takes discussion beyond just pickup trucks, said Robert Thompson, former president of the National Popular Culture Association and a professor of popular culture at Syracuse University in New York.
"This isn't just a little story about an automobile that's been the bestseller for over four decades, he said. "It really gets to the heart and soul — it's incredibly powerful American symbolism."
Thompson mentioned F-150 and F-Series cameos in classic films including “Urban Cowboy” with John Travolta, “Road House” with Patrick Swayze, “Take this Job and Shove It” with Robert Hays, “Mad Max: Fury Road” with Mel Gibson, “Gran Torino” with Clint Eastwood and the “Dukes of Hazzard” TV series.
"Those were pretty iconic movies where those pickups were as much a character as the human beings," he said.
Not only do the Ford pickups represent the underdog and a working-class attitude but they also play a key role in a post-apocalyptic scenario where the world presents obstacles that threaten survival, Thompson said.
This 1951 Ford F-1, "built stronger to last longer," was among the first generation of F-Series pickups built between 1948-52. It debuted after World War II, purchased mostly by farmers and small businesses. Ford built nearly 290,000 trucks that first year.
In fact, the public's fascination with the Ford pickup truck is so popular that Ford archivist Ted Ryan told the Free Press earlier this year that the company was seeing 3,500 visitors a day to its website fordheritagevault.com that features thousands of vintage images available to download for free. On Thursday, he said the site is averaging up to 4,500 daily.
Plan to offer internal combustion, hybrid and electric now
While nostalgia drives sales as much as anything, Ford said it remains focused on the future.
"Looking forward, we are excited to begin production of the new 2024 gas and hybrid F-150 models early in the year," Robert Kaffl, Ford director of U.S. sales said in a news release Thursday. "Our unwavering focus on growth across gas, hybrid, and electric models in 2024 reflects our promise to offer a truck for every customer."
He added, "The enduring legacy of the F-Series is not just a result of our relentless pursuit of improvement but also a reflection of the trust between our company and customers. We are deeply grateful."
This 1978 Ford F-150 Ranger is part of a collection of vintage images made public by Ford Motor Company on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. The F-Series images are among thousands of images free to the public and downloadable. In 1978, Ranger was just a trim level and not yet a truck model.
America will always gravitate to the classic American pickup truck but there's something unique about the F-Series, said Robert Kolt, a professor of advertising and public relations at Michigan State University.
"Other companies in different countries think about slimmer, more efficient, less expensive all-utility trucks. Americans over generations have wanted some F-Series trucks that are stronger, dependable and generally bigger trucks," he said. "You can buy any truck you want in the F-Series, but know it’s just going to be tougher and stronger than any other international brand."
This 1960 Ford F-100 pickup is the second most downloaded image from the fordheritagevault.com website maintained by the Ford archives team. The most popular image remains the classic Mustang.
GM and Ram trucks deserve recognition as good but their buyers are different, Kolt said.
"There is just a passion that Ford F-Series people have that is an unquestioned loyalty to the brand. Like, 'You were there for me F-Series truck when I needed you, and so I’ll be there for you in the future,' " Kolt said "It is difficult to explain but buying into the F-Series is more like engaging in a relationship rather than a transaction."
