---
title: "2023 Q1 sales: Ford, GM battle for truck supremacy, Honda Ridgeline big winner"
url: "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2023/04/2023-q1-sales-ford-gm-battle-for-truck-supremacy-honda-ridgeline-big-winner/"
publisher: "Pickup Truck + SUV Talk"
content_signal: "search=yes, ai-input=yes, ai-train=no"
author: "Tim Esterdahl"
published: "2023-04-04T23:40:38+00:00"
modified: "2026-10-02T12:42:16+00:00"
image: "https://pickuptrucktalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023_Ridgeline_Sport_with_HPD_Package_0001.jpg"
---

# 2023 Q1 sales: Ford, GM battle for truck supremacy, Honda Ridgeline big winner

By Tim Esterdahl

Published: 2023-04-04T23:40:38+00:00
Updated: 2026-10-02T12:42:16+00:00

![Featured image](<https://pickuptrucktalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023_Ridgeline_Sport_with_HPD_Package_0001.jpg>)

The 2023 Q1 sales results are in with some interesting results. Ford still rules the truck world (kind of), GM out sells Ford (kind of), and the Honda Ridgeline kicked butt. Yeah, the unibody Ridgeline.

 

These quarterly sales results show how the industry is dealing with the ongoing parts shortages and high interest rates as well as economic uncertainly. Overall, the industry shows how resilient it is and isn’t going under like some [YouTube channels would lead you to believe](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ruqpWxBtJI&feature=youtu.be>).

 

## **2023 Q1 sales**

 

Here are the sales results with commentary below on each segment.

 

| 2023 Q1 Pickup Sales |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Full-Size Truck Sales** | **Q1 Sales** | **Last Year Q1 Sales** | **Quarterly Change** | **Year to Date** | **Last Year to Date** | **Year Over Year Change** |
| Ford F-Series | 170,331 | 140,701 | 21.1% | 170,377 | 140,701 | 21.1% |
| Chevy Silverado <br>LD <br>HD | 123,994<br>87,111<br>36,883 | 118,796<br>81,017<br>37,779 | 4.2%<br>7.5%<br>-2.4% | 123,994<br>87,111<br>36,883 | 118,796<br>81,017<br>37,779 | 4.2%<br>7.5%<br>-2.4% |
| Ram Truck | 105,350 | 127,116 | -17.0% | 105,350 | 127,116 | -17.0% |
| GMC Sierra <br>LD<br>HD | 67,195<br>46,382<br>20,816 | 56,617<br>36,805<br>19,812 | 18.6%<br>26%<br>5,1% | 67,195<br>46,382<br>20,816 | 56,617<br>36,805<br>19,812 | 18.6%<br>26%<br>5,1% |
| Toyota Tundra | 27,651 | 22,643 | 22.1 | 27,651 | 22,643 | 22.1% |
| Nissan Titan | 4,038 | 6,415 | -37.1% | 4,038 | 6,415 | -37.1% |
| **Midsize Truck Sales** | **Q1 Sales** | **Last Year Q1 Sales** | **Quarterly Change** | **Year to Date** | **Last Year to Date** | **Year Over Year Change** |
| Toyota Tacoma | 53,583 | 53,182 | .8% | 53,583 | 53,182 | .8% |
| Nissan Frontier | 16,926 | 22,405 | -24.5% | 16,926 | 22,405 | -24.5% |
| Jeep Gladiator | 13,575 | 17,912 | -24% | 13,575 | 17,912 | -24% |
| Chevrolet Colorado | 13,256 | 21,693 | -38.9% | 13,256 | 21,693 | -38.9% |
| Honda Ridgeline | 12,918 | 9,189 | 40.6% | 12,918 | 9,189 | 40.6% |
| Ford Ranger | 11,500 | 17,639 | -34.8% | 11,500 | 17,639 | -34.8 |
| GMC Canyon | 5,016 | 6,160 | -18.6% | 5,016 | 6,160 | -18.6% |
| **Compact pickup** | **Q1 Sales** | **Last Year Q1 Sales** | **Quarterly Change** | **Year to Date** | **Last Year to Date** | **Year Over Year Change** |
| Ford Maverick | 21,478 | 19,245 | 11.6% | 21,478 | 19,245 | 11.6% |
| Hyundai Santa Cruz | 9,307 | 8,400 | 11% | 9,307 | 8,400 | 11% |
| **EV Truck Sales** |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Rivian – R1T, R1S, Van | 7,946 | 2,553 | 311.2% | 7,946 | 2,553 | 311.2% |
| Ford Lightning | 4,291 | 254 | 1589.4% | 4,291 | 254 | 1589.4% |
| GMC Hummer EV pickup | 2 | 99 | -98% | 2 | 99 | -98.0% |

 

## **Full-size truck sales**

 

Kicking off the discussion is full-size trucks. This segment remains the bread and butter for most brands and is one of the most competitive markets in the automotive world.

 

Ford sits on top of our chart, Ford F-Series specifically, which includes the F-150, F-250, F-350 and F-450. They get a kind of designation because of inclusion of the F-450. The regular version of that truck is technically in the [1-ton size class (Class 3) with a GVWR from 10,001 to 14,000 pounds](<https://www.badgertruck.com/heavy-truck-information/truck-classification/>) with 14,000 pounds GVWR. If you order it as a chassis cab model, then you have a Class 4 truck. Did I mention how competitive the segment is?

 

There is a refreshed [2024 Ford F-150](<https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2023/03/2024-ford-f-150-interior-facelift-spied/>) in development, which should come out this year and give them a boost.

 

Next is Chevrolet with a strong performance of their refreshed 2022 Silverado 1500 plus a new 3.0-liter LZO Duramax diesel like our [long-term tester](<https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2023/01/new-long-term-review-vehicle-2023-chevy-silverado-1500-high-country-3-0l-duramax-diesel/>)helping sales grow. Combined with GMC and its new [GMC Sierra 1500](<https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2022/05/2022-gmc-sierra-1500-denali-ultimate-at4x-add-lux-on-top-of-lux-first-drive/>), General Motors actually overcomes Ford for first place in the market. It would be number one on our list IF GM reported its sales as combined. Until they officially make that change, they will be separate on our list.

 

GM is also refreshing its [heavy-duty trucks](<https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2022/03/bring-on-the-beasts-chevy-silverado-hd-zr2-gmc-sierra-hd-at4/>), which should hit dealer lots soon, and that is the same for the refreshed [Ford Super Duty](<https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2022/02/ford-super-duty-redesign-coming-for-2023/>).

 

In third place are Ram trucks. This isn’t all too surprising since Ram has one of the [older fullsize trucks](<https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2022/06/heck-yeah-2022-ram-1500-trx-sandblast-edition-revealed/>) on the road and only did a few changes for its [2023 Ram 2500 and Ram 3500](<https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2022/03/what-to-expect-for-2023-ram-2500-3500-hd-trucks/>) heavy-duty trucks. It seems all its focus is on their Ram REV electric truck currently.

 

The Toyota Tundra has an interesting sales result. First, the [2022 Toyota Tundra](<https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2022/02/2022-toyota-tundra-i-force-max-a-hybrid-built-for-power-first-drive/>) was all new and this chart shows year over year with new truck versus new truck. Second, sales were up, which is good for Toyota, but, in my book, the sales should have been higher. The fact is the Tundra has always been production limited sharing part of the plant with the better selling Toyota Tacoma. Now the [Tacoma is being built exclusively in Mexico](<https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2020/01/toyota-moves-tacoma-production-out-of-u-s-all-models-to-be-built-in-mexico/>).

 

Looking back at the 2019 Q1 sales, before the world went crazy, Toyota sold 25,100 Tundra trucks.

 

A new truck, a plant devoted more to building it and Toyota managed just 2,000 or so more trucks sold. Interesting to say the least.

 

Coming in last is the [Nissan Titan](<https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2019/08/2020-nissan-titan-cummins-diesel-dead-regular-cab/>), which is no real surprise. It had a moderate refresh in 2020 addressing some shortcomings, but still can’t seem to move the needle. Production has been hampered, sales were eliminated in Canada and it sure sounds like these are the final days of the truck.

 

## **Honda surprises midsize truck sales**

 

For the midsize truck sales, it isn’t surprising to see the sales numbers all over the place. This year, the [Chevy Colorado](<https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2023/02/2023-chevy-colorado-awesome-with-a-side-of-quirky-first-drive/>), [GMC Canyon](<https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2022/08/2023-gmc-canyon-revealed-special-edition-with-63k-price-and-4-other-things-to-know/>), [Toyota Tacoma](<https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2022/06/what-to-expect-from-the-2024-toyota-tacoma/>) and [Ford Ranger](<https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2022/07/2024-ford-ranger-what-to-expect/>) are all being refreshed or completely redone. That will hamper their sales.

 

Looking at the chart knowing about the trucks being refreshed, the Tacoma is holding steady, the Ford Ranger sees a big drop as do the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon. That’s expected.

 

What isn’t expected is the [Nissan Frontier](<https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2022/09/2023-nissan-frontier-pricing-announced/>) poor results even with a relatively new model and the Jeep Gladiator struggling even with overlanding still being extremely popular.

 

The biggest surprise? Yup, the [Honda Ridgeline](<https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2020/10/new-2021-honda-ridgeline-updates/>) had the best year over year growth of anyone. It outsold the fullsize Nissan Titan, bested the Ford Ranger (once the best selling midsize truck in the U.S.), and doubled the sales volume of the GMC Canyon. This is much to the chagrin of the a truck must have a frame crowd.

 

## **Compact truck sales**

 

Rounding out the ICE trucks, the new compact truck segment continues to see real demand.

 

In fact, the demand is so high for the [Ford Maverick](<https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2022/08/2023-ford-maverick-offers-tremor-package-orders-open-in-sept/>) that not only is out performing year over year, Ford keeps [turning off the order books](<https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2022/09/2023-ford-maverick-retail-order-books-close-today/>) to try to calm demand.

 

The [Hyundai Santa Cruz](<https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2021/08/2022-hyundai-santa-cruz-a-darn-nice-pickup-car-suv-thing-first-drive/>) is doing quite well. It is more expensive than the Ford Maverick, yet its more stylish looks and premium interior overcomes this price difference for many customers.

 

Plus, our fearless Managing Editor Jill Ciminillo kicked the Santa Cruz’s butt in the Rebelle Rally and it held up well. I mean, if the compact truck can handle a Ciminillo, then, hell, it can withstand anything!

 

## **Electric trucks**

 

The final category is probably the most important with automakers investing billions into future development. It is still extremely early in the electric truck market, and the results show it.

 

First, the Rivian numbers include all their models since they don’t separate them out. Unfortunate, but it is how they do things. I understand the [R1T](<https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2022/09/driving-the-rivian-r1t-will-truck-guys-love-this-electric-truck/>) is their main volume seller, so keep that in mind.

 

Next, the Ford F-150 Lightning has had an interesting spring with a production stoppage due to a fire then a [price increase](<https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2023/03/2024-ford-f-150-lightning-price-hike-lithium-demand-softens/>). Ford plans to bump up production to triple annual production to 150,000 units by the end of 2023. It is pretty safe to say they have some work to do to hit that goal.

 

Lastly, the GMC Hummer sold a whopping two trucks. GM told [TFLTruck](<https://tfltruck.com/2023/04/what-in-the-world-is-going-on-with-gmc-hummer-ev-deliveries/>) this was merely due to a stop-sale effecting production.

 

“We were under a recall/stop-delivery and we halted production to fix it,” from an unnamed GMC spokesperson. “Production resumed on January 30 of this year and shipments resumed right the end of Q1. Q2 sales report will show deliveries of both the HUMMER EV Pickup and SUV.”

 

## **The bottom line**

 

People may debate certain trucks, read reviews and opinions from us and others, argue over this that or another thing, sales results don’t lie. They are facts and everyone had to deal with the same conditions plain and simple.

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