Pickup trucks are an integral part of the US automotive landscape. They are part of its fabric and are some of the most versatile vehicles on the market.
Some, like the Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Silverado, sell exceptionally well. Others, however, do not share the same fate.
This list includes 15 pickup trucks that are slow to sell in today’s market. This can be due to various reasons, such as demand, better alternative vehicles, or perhaps nobody likes these trucks.
Ram Pickup 1500 Classic
According to iSeeCars, the Ram 1500 Classic pickup truck sales have been poor, particularly in Arkansas. Yet Ram calls the 2023 1500 Classic the most affordable in its classic series, with an MSRP of $32,345.
But the truck carries the Classic name for a simple reason. It is an ancient truck, first going on sale in 2009. When a brand new 2024 Ford F-150 costs just $4,000 more at MSRP, it is easy to see why 1500 Classic sales are so slow.
Ram 1500
According to iSeeCars, the current Ram 1500 needs help to make it off the dealership lots. The website says they spend around 62 days at dealerships in Idaho before selling them.
An MSRP of $39,420 is more expensive than the 2024 Ford F-150 and the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado—both the Ford and the Chevrolet retail between $36,000 and $37,000. While not significantly cheaper than the Ram, that could easily contribute to the slower sales for the 1500.
Ram 2500
It isn’t going so well for Ram at the moment. CarEdge recently reported that four of the five slowest-selling vehicles currently on the U.S. market are from Stellantis.
One of those is the Ram 2500 pickup truck, the slowest-selling vehicle in the United States. Ram Forum says that there are 784 days of supply for the car. One user suggested Ram’s pricing is to blame for this, as a Ram 2500 costs $11,000 more than the equivalent Ford F-350.
Nissan Titan
Finally, a pickup truck that doesn’t come from Ram and Stellantis! Nissan’s Titan is suffering a similar issue, with CarEdge reporting a 265 market-day supply for the Japanese manufacturer’s pickup truck.
The website also reports that the average selling price for the Titan stands at $56,179, and as of January 2024, Nissan had sold just 1,000 of them over the last 45 days. It is likely not helped by its hefty MSRP of $46,040, which is significantly more than Ford and Chevrolet’s all-new offerings.
Ram 3500 Pickup
In October 2023, Ram’s 3500 pickup truck was one of the slowest-selling vehicles in the United States. CarEdge says there was a 367 market-day supply of the truck at a dizzying $77,820 in 2024.
To put that into context, the MSRP of the 2024 Ford Super Duty, in this case the F-150 XL, is just $44,970. The 2024 Ford F-350 XL is also much cheaper than the Ram, offering $51,810, highlighting how Ram looks to be pricing themselves out of the market.
Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Limited
Those looking at used offerings will likely find plenty of Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Limiteds on the market. iSeeCars says that, on average, 1500 used Limiteds spend around 61 days on the market before selling.
An average price of $46,399 puts used Chevrolet pickup trucks firmly in the price bracket of new Ford and Chevrolet pickups. With better offerings in the new and used market, it is no surprise that the 1500 Limited is struggling to sell in the used pickup market.
2023 Toyota Tacoma
With the advent of the 2024 Toyota Tacoma, sales for the 2023 Tacoma will undoubtedly drop dramatically throughout 2024. Looking at GoodCarBadCar reveals that in March 2023, Toyota sold 18,674 Tacomas.
In March 2024, Toyota sold just 8,310 Tacoma units. There has been a massive drop in demand since Toyota launched the new Tacoma. The reality is that a new Tacoma was in demand for some time, and the hype surrounding the new truck is, so far, proving to be correct. Early signs are that Toyota has produced a winner with its latest pickup.
Nissan Frontier
While Ram has dominated the slow truck sales figures, Nissan also sees its Frontier pickup truck join the Titan with sluggish sales. GoodCarBadCar reveals how up and down it has been for the Frontier over the past few years.
Nissan sold 60,696 Frontiers in North America in 2021. That number increased to 76,185 in 2022, but Nissan only sold 58,134 last year. At the moment, it has sold just 19,745 units of the Frontier. With so much competition from rivals, it makes sense to see Nissan’s sales fluctuate.
Jeep Gladiator
The Jeep Gladiator has seen its sales decrease dramatically over the last few years. In 2021, GoodCarBadCar lists sales of 89,712 for the Jeep pickup truck. In 2022, however, those sales went down to 77,855.
In 2023, sales figures went down even further to 55,187, and Jeep sold just 12,990 Gladiators in 2024. That is surprising, given the Gladiator is a practically sized pickup truck with an impressive towing capacity and genuinely stellar off-road performance levels. The 2024 Gladiator starts at $39,790, which makes it quite affordable.
Ford F-150 Lightning
Despite only being on the market for around a year, the Ford F-150 Lightning has already appeared on some slow sales lists. iSeeCars slowest-selling used vehicle list of October 2023 had the electric Ford appear at number eight.
The website says that, on average, used F-150 Lightnings spent 78 days on the market, 1.6 times the average for all used cars. The F-150 Lightning has also seen a decrease in sales as a new truck, with Ford Authority stating in November 2023 that sales had dropped 45.8 percent through the third quarter of the year.
Ford Ranger
Ford’s new electric pickup truck isn’t the only one struggling to sell. Ford Authority also reported in December 2023 that the Ranger had become one of the top ten slowest-selling new cars, again according to iSeeCars. At the end of 2023, the Ranger was the ninth-slowest-selling vehicle.
The website says the truck spent nearly 91 days on dealer lots, which was two times longer than the average new vehicle. It was behind many other slow-selling vehicles, such as the Mazda MX-5 Miata at 98 days and the Mercedes-Benz EQS, which topped the list at the end of 2023 with 119.6 days on dealer lots.
Hyundai Santa Cruz
While the Hyundai Santa Cruz isn’t seeing significant sales drops, it isn’t precisely leaping away into the distance. In 2021, Hyundai sold just 9,634 truck units, but in 2022, that number shot right up to 36,480.
However, if Hyundai was expecting another big jump in 2023, it would have been very disappointed. Sales of the mid-size truck barely rose by 200 to 36,675. The stagnation suggests that consumers are focusing on offerings from the more typical pickup creators, such as Ford, Chevrolet, Ram, and GMC.
GMC Hummer EV
Looking at GoodCarBadCar paints a dismal picture for the GMC Hummer EV. The electric pickup truck launched in 2022 and sold just 854 units that year as it found its feet. Sales, however, picked up little in 2023, rising to just 3,260 that year, suggesting that demand for the EV is not currently there.
In December 2023, the GMC Hummer EV was at the bottom of the pile regarding pickup truck sales compared to other models. At the top was the Ford F-Series of trucks, with 52,412 sales in the year’s final month. The Hummer EV, though, stood at just 571 units.
Toyota Tundra
GoodCarBadCar provides some interesting data on Toyota Tundra’s sales. In the first quarter of 2023, the Toyota pickup truck sales stood at 36,215. However, in the same quarter of 2024, Toyota saw sales drop by nearly 10,000 to 27,651.
There is no real explanation for this significant drop. The most apparent reason could be that the 2024 Tacoma stole some thunder from the Tundra, which only entered a new generation at the end of 2021. It doesn’t help that the market is full of pickup trucks to suit everyone’s needs, whether mid-size, compact, or full-size pickups.
Honda Ridgeline
Honda might be one of the best automotive manufacturers in the world, but nobody wants to buy their pickup truck, the Ridgeline.
The data from GoodCarBadCar paints an abysmal picture of the Ridgeline. Across 2023, sales per month never went beyond 5,100, and at their lowest, Honda sold just 3,161 Ridgelines in January 2023. Sales at the year’s end were solid at 52,001, but compared to rivals from Toyota, Ford, and Chevrolet, they barely scratched the surface.