THE RAV4 IS OFFICIALLY MORE POPULAR THAN AMERICA'S FAVORITE TRUCK
Ford has been more than happy to shout from the mountain tops that its F-Series pickups are the best-selling vehicle in America. It's a claim the Blue Oval has been making for 43 years running, and the company doesn't even wait until the end of the year to announce it anymore. But the "F-Series" includes more than one vehicle.
- 10Images10ImagesClose
2024 Ford F-150
Base MSRP $36,875Base Trim Engine 2.7 L V6Base Trim Horsepower 325 hpBase Trim Torque 400 lb-ftBase Trim Curb Weight 4,530 lbs 2025 Toyota RAV4
Base MSRP $28,850Base Trim Engine 2.5L Dynamic Force I4 ICEBase Trim Horsepower 203 HP @6600 RPMBase Trim Torque 184 lb.-ft. @ 5000 RPMBase Trim Curb Weight 3370 lbs.
It's hard to look at the F-150 pickup and the Super Duty F-250 and F-350 as being the same vehicle. The only thing they share is the badge on the hood, and once you move up into the higher figures, the differences (and capabilities) keep climbing. Ford's figure counts all the way to the F-600, and that's like Chevrolet lumping the Blazer, Blazer EV, and Trailblazer together just because the names are similar.
Model for model, does Ford's claim still carry hay? Data from automotive analytics firm JATO Dynamics shows that it doesn't.
Ford's Real F-150 Sales Numbers Revealed
According to JATO, the real best-selling vehicle in the US last year was the Toyota RAV4. The best individual-selling of Ford's pickups, the F-150, fell behind it by nearly 15,000 units sold.
JATO reports on vehicle registration figures rather than automaker-reported sales, and that gives us more insight into the "real" numbers. The data, posted to Instagram by Felipe Munoz, puts the RAV4 at 475,193 copies sold, up nine percent, and the Ford F-150 separated from the rest of the F-Series lineup at 460,915.
Best Selling Cars Of 2000 Show How Much And How Little The Automotive Industry Has Changed
You can probably guess the top-seller for the last 25 years, but comparing 2000 auto sales to 2024 auto sales does turn up some surprises.
Next up on the list was the Honda CR-V at 402,791, with the Tesla Model Y (372,613) and Chevrolet Silverado 1500 (344,022) rounding out the top five. The same post shows that Toyota was the top brand again this year, with 2,037,143 vehicles sold to Ford's 1,960,338.
Add Both Together And They Can't Beat The All-Time Leader
Looking at America only, neither model is particularly impressive as far as all-time best years. Up until 1980, single models frequently topped 500,000 units, and the all-time best was the 1965 Chevrolet Impala, which topped one million. The model that gained the most market share wasn't in the top five. Instead, it was the Chevrolet Trax, a model completely redesigned recently that delivers the affordability buyers crave right now, seeing sales shoot up 83 percent to just over 200,000.
Rivals Wish They Had The Year Kia Did
The company's best-sellers were stronger than ever in 2024.
The loser for market share was the Toyota Highlander SUV. Its 47 percent fall from 169,543 units to 89,658 was only partially made up for by the larger Grand Highlander's rise from 48,036 to 71,721.
For manufacturers, General Motors led the pack in sales with 2,689,352. Toyota, with Lexus included, hit 2.382,812, and Ford was third with 2,065,161 sales, including Lincoln.
2025-02-08T03:55:17Z
