Breaking: The Ford F-Series Is Ridiculously Popular

I was inside MacPhee Ford's newish showroom in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, last night because, well, sometimes it snows on the day I need to tow my nonexistent boat to my brother-in-law's in order to help him move apartments while transporting my baby boy, my wife, my mother, and my dog to the beach. That's what I'm telling myself anyhow, because I'd feel old and paternal if I said it had a lot to do with the size of the upcoming, rear-facing convertible child seat. 

This glassed-in Ford palace - which costs more than a decent annual government salary to run every month - is a testament to the F-Series' strength. Sure, there's a small group of Fusions in one corner of the lot. (The Fusion is Canada's top-selling midsize car.) MacPhee has decided to make a conscious effort to succeed with the C-Max even as it becomes a very rare car Canada-wide, so there are a few to be seen on the lot. Summer will inevitably bring out the Mustangs; 17-year-old Fast & Furious fans will spend some time ogling a lone Fiesta ST, too. But it's the F-Series, the F-150 in particular, that does the heavy lifting. 

• All 248 Vehicle Ranked By January 2014 U.S. Sales
• All 238 Vehicles Ranked By January 2014 Canadian Sales

You've heard the numbers: the F-Series generates 90% of Ford Motor Company's global profits, Morgan Stanley says. Everything is working to the F-Series' advantage. The current-generation truck is inexpensive to build, easily reconfigurable to appeal to completely different sets of buyers, and it's perfectly marketed. 

As a result, you don't drive to the grocery store anywhere in North America without seeing at least a few. You've long since stopped noticing this omnipresence. One of the F-150's was likely a basic rear-wheel-drive, white XL work truck with the phone company's stickers. Another was filled with kids on the way to hockey practice. The third one, a black King Ranch, did make you take notice. The fourth, fifth, and sixth were identical blue or red XLTs, the affordable family rigs, but there was only one commuting occupant aboard.

How Popular Is  The F-Series In America?	2013  U.S. Sales	2012 U.S. Sales	% Change
Ford F-Series	763,402	645,316	18.3%
Toyota Camry & Corolla/Matrix	710,664	695,833	2.1%
Hyundai Brand	720,783	703,007	2.5%
Cadillac/Acura/Audi/Infiniti/Lincoln	704,189	647,335	8.8%
All GM Pickup Trucks	687,642	647,001	6.3%
Ford Utility Vehicles	681,802	619,470	10.1%
Mercedes-Benz & BMW	643,624	576,473	11.6%
Minivans	532,357	554,827	-4.0%
Subcompacts *	506,799	487,679	3.9%
All Import Brand Trucks ^	368,916	336,031	9.8%

* Aveo, Sonic, Fiesta, Fit, Accent, Rio, 2, Mirage, Versa, Prius C, Yaris.
^ Tacoma, Tundra, Frontier, Ridgeline, Titan, Equator

Yes indeed, they're everywhere. And GCBC can't avoid pointing out this fact multiple times each month, as the F-Series leads the way in truck rankings, again when we list the 30 best-selling vehicles, and again when we rank all 20+ dozen vehicle nameplates. This goes for the U.S. standings and the Canadian results, too. But it could be argued that straight lists mask the F-Series' dominance. It's assumed that the F-Series will be in the top spot each month, so eyes drift directly to the second slot. The pie chart we use in our lists of the 30 best-selling vehicles allows the eye to align more closely with reality. The tables visible in this post, however, are quite a bit different. 

Ford's 2015 F-150 Will Make Heavy (Light?) Use Of Aluminum, Therefore Shedding Up To 700 Pounds

How popular is the Ford F-Series? In America, the F-Series outsold the Hyundai, Kia, Jeep, GMC, Subaru, and Volkswagen brands. In Canada, the F-Series outsold the two most popular cars in the country combined, Honda's Civic and Hyundai's Elantra.

Trucks struggled in January 2014 to match January 2013's pace both in the United States and Canada, falling 4.5% in both countries. (Slight F-Series declines were part of the problem on both sides of the border.) But like the F-Series, the full-size truck category as a whole is a booming corner of the North American automobile marketplace. Popularity is not an F-Series exclusive. Extreme popularity, on the other hand, is something no other vehicle line can claim.

Keep in mind, it's not 2004. Trucks are a growing force, but fuel prices have risen and competition for your $35,000 is rampant. Ford sold 939,511 F-Series pickups in the U.S. that year. F-Series sales totalled 763,402 units in America in 2013, equal to 4.9% of the market's sales, down from 5.6% in 2004.

How Popular Is The F-Series In Canada?	2013  Canadian Sales	2012 Canadian Sales	% Change
Ford F-Series	122,325	106,358	15.0%
Honda Civic & Hyundai Elantra	118,823	115,912	2.5%
Acura, Lexus, Buick, Cadillac, Infiniti, Fiat, Mini, Lincoln, Land Rover, Scion, Volvo, Porsche, Suzuki, Jaguar, Maserati, Bentley	110,518	105,901	4.4%
Subcompacts *	90,680	93,042	-2.5%
Minivans	90,646	97,547	-7.1%
All GM Trucks	87,298	85,264	2.4%
Nissan Brand	82,604	74,201	11.3%
Ford Utility Vehicles	77,127	78,503	-1.8%
Mercedes-Benz & BMW	66,490	64,514	3.1%
All Import Brand Trucks ^	26,431	25,843	2.3%

* Aveo, Sonic, Fiesta, Fit, Accent, Rio, 2, Mirage, Versa, Prius C, Yaris
^ Tacoma, Tundra, Titan, Frontier, Ridgeline

RECOMMENDED READING
Historical Monthly & Yearly Ford F-Series Sales Figures
Complete 2013 U.S. Pickup Truck Sales Figures
Complete 2013 Canadian Pickup Truck Sales Figures
2013 Ram 1500 Outdoorsman Crew Cab V6 4x4 Driven Review
2014 GMC Sierra Crew Cab 5.3L SLT Crew Cab Driven Review