?

[donn0128]

OK I know from the get go this is opening a can of worms but I still have to ask...
Since Ford has so many fleet customers, is this the reason they can claim to be number one in truck sales?

[Fordlover]

spoon059 wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
Guess I need to rephrase this... take out fleet sales and where would Ford sit in truck sales?

Take out the fact that the federal government was STRONGLY encouraged to buy GM products after we, the taxpayers, bought them out and owned a majority share in them for several years... where does GM sit in any vehicles sold?

This thread was obviously a trolling thread. It was only meant to stir the pot. We got the obligatory "McDonalds hamburger" theory too, the one that gets tossed around like its actually relevant.

Lemme explain about the McDonalds hamburger again...

McDonalds does NOT make the best hamburger. They do make the most popular hamburger for around $1. Therefore, amongst equally priced hamburgers, McDonalds is both the BEST and MOST POPULAR hamburger in the world.

Ford, Ram and GM all make comparable products. They are all comparably priced. None of them are a Mercedes, but none of them are a Yugo either. Based upon sales of comparably priced vehicles with comparable features, Ford makes the most popular product.

Definition of "best";
of the most excellent, effective, or desirable type or quality.
"the best pitcher in the league"


synonyms: finest, greatest, top, foremost, leading, preeminent, premier, prime, first, chief, principal, supreme, of the highest quality, superlative, par excellence, unrivaled, second to none, without equal, nonpareil, unsurpassed, peerless, matchless, unparalleled, unbeaten, unbeatable, optimum, optimal, ultimate, incomparable, ideal, perfect;

Ford trucks are the TOP in sales... FOREMOST in sales... LEADING in sales... FIRST, OF THE HIGHEST, UNRIVALED, SECOND TO NONE...

Point made?

Now, if we are going with the McDonalds hamburger argument then ANY truck can be compared to Ford. I would argue that Volvo is probably better and Freightliner may be the best. Of course a Ford F350 starts around $35K and a Freightliner is closer to $200K.

Go back to bed kids...

Very well said Spoon, as usual.

Nothing more humorous than comparing a 1 dollar hamburger to a 50K purchase. If you make a bad decision on your hamburger, don't worry, you'll have another meal in 4 -8 hours. If you make a bad decision on your truck, it's a bit more difficult (and expensive) to remedy.

[goducks10]

mosseater wrote:
Feel free to correct me, going on memory, but wasn't the 150 not just the best selling truck in America, but the best selling VEHICLE in America for quite a few years? Just recently dropped that tag line and changed it to "truck" IIRC.

I agree, it doesn't make it the best truck by virtue of the sales numbers. But it does mean an aweful lot of people think it's the vehicle they'd rather drive at the price point compared to the competition. It doesn't need to be the best truck, it just has to cover the most bases for the most people at a price they can live with. I personally think it many times comes down to aethetics. When the realization hit me that not only did my truck have what I wanted for the price I was willing to pay, but I would also have to look at it in my driveway every day, it was a sealed deal. I like the looks of the Tundra's next, the new Rams are just OK. I've hated the looks of the Superduty's for several years now, really hoping for an upgrade til I'm ready to consider my next truck. And just what the heck is Chevy and GMC thinking? That whole squared wheel well look is just hiddeous to me. If I hate to look at it, I won't drive it.

The F150 only sold more than one of the GM twins. Not the combined twins.
2013
F150 469,515
GM twins 525,027

2012 GM was the winner.

[goducks10]

Dadoffourgirls wrote:

goducks10 wrote:
2013 sales
Ford F150-350 733,345
GM 1500-3500 657,251
Ram 1500-350 355,674

No 450,550,650 or 750's

What is the source of this? I did not know that Ford actually shared the details of their sales at this level.

http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2014/04/who-sold-the-most-pickups-in-2013.html

[Fordlover]

N-Trouble wrote:
IMO top truck sales numbers only make you #1 in truck sales numbers.

Ask yourself, does McDonalds make the best burgers because they happen to sell the most?

No, they make the best burger for the masses.

I think this fits in Ford's case as well. Ford puts together the best truck 'package' of the big 3. Buyers have put their money on it.

If the 'best' was a prerequisite for any purchase, none of us would have anything because so few can afford the absolute best.

[N-Trouble]

nevadanick wrote:
They sell fleet trucks around here because they work, the others have a ways to catch up when it comes to severe service. Ford even tests trucks here before they go to market. I remember several years ago when one of the mines decided to buy GM and after 2 years you could buy any GM truck they had for $2500.

ROFL....If this were actually true and as you say Ford "tests" their stuff then why were the 6.0 and 6.4 such a debacle when released to the public???????????????

[aftermath]

I think they are all good trucks. Ford, GM, Dodge and yes, Toyota. I like my Tundra because it fits into what I want to do with my truck. This might change down the road and if it does I will likely drive something bigger.

I owned two Fords a long time ago. The first one was great but the second one ended up being a POS and I smiled when it drove away. I do think that today's trucks are much better and wouldn't hesitate looking at another Ford. Yes, they are popular but when you remove fleet sales they are right in there with their competitors. Again, I think they are all pretty good.

What I don't like about the big three is that they continually come out with these "big" sales where they knock off thousands of dollars from the original price. Don't kid yourself, at these "lower" prices they are still making a decent profit on each unit. I can only believe that their trucks are grossly overpriced to begin with. This, to me, is the downside of capitalism. Big companies manipulate prices to gain profit. Never liked the whole game you have to play when purchasing new vehicles.

Just think what would happen if one of the big three did away with these "sales events" and simply dropped the cost on all of their units. I think they would rise to the top of the sales numbers quickly.

[Gr8life]

Some manufacturers see fleet sales as a marketing tool and price fleet vehicles accordingly. They believe that the general public seeing that _________ state agency driving their brand for example means something. I worked for the Illinois Department of Transportation when they purchased IH pickups that were barely usable and some underpowered V-6 Dodges that would not hold top gear on a level road and constantly had transmission problems. But, the price was right and they met the minimum specs.

[Dadoffourgirls]

Spoon
If you are talking about cost(selling price), maybe you need to do more research on the cost of Mercedes and those of Ford, FCA, GM. I think that you will find them in line with these. If you had used Bentley, Aston Martin, or Ferrari, it might have been clear.

Your intent was not clear without factual references.

[spoon059]

Dadoffourgirls wrote:
Spooon - What exactly did you mean "None are a Mercedes"? Do you believe that a Mercedes light vehicle is significantly better than others? Based on what standards? Your DC influenced, anti-GM teachings and preachings?

Carefully come down off your highly perched soap box pops... I'm talking COST when I used Mercedes. You can substitute any higher priced vehicle you want. Mercedes is generally accepted as a higher priced "luxury vehicle". If you read my entire comment, rather than cherrypicking something to complain about, you would have realized the intent.

Would you prefer I edited my comment and changed it to read Bentley, or Aston Martin, or Ferrari?

My comment in no way even suggested that Mercedes makes a better 1 ton dually than Ford, GM (Mark... I wrote GM, not GMC, not Chevy... GENERAL MOTORS).

By the way pops... isn't DC where the US government got involved in buying out GM? How do you then figure that my anti-Socialist thoughts about GM are DC based "teaching and preaching"? Can't I just make my own opinion about GM based upon the truth?

[Dadoffourgirls]

spoon059 wrote:
...Ford, Ram and GM all make comparable products. They are all comparably priced. None of them are a Mercedes, but none of them are a Yugo either. Based upon sales of comparably priced vehicles with comparable features, Ford makes the most popular product...

Spooon - What exactly did you mean "None are a Mercedes"? Do you believe that a Mercedes light vehicle is significantly better than others? Based on what standards? Your DC influenced, anti-GM teachings and preachings?

[Dadoffourgirls]

goducks10 wrote:
2013 sales
Ford F150-350 733,345
GM 1500-3500 657,251
Ram 1500-350 355,674

No 450,550,650 or 750's

What is the source of this? I did not know that Ford actually shared the details of their sales at this level.

[spoon059]

MARK VANDERBENT wrote:
I know you don't consider GMC and CHEVY same trucks, but they are from one main company known as GM.

So, GM selling most autos every month makes them the best ?? not really, they just sell a lot!

Hey Mark, thanks for telling me what I consider... I guess you know me better than I know myself. I thought I knew that GENERAL MOTORS made GMC and Chevy, which is why I referred to them as GM... not Chevy and GMC trucks. Apparently you knew that I made a mistake and meant to say GMC trucks OR Chevy trucks... but not GM trucks...

GM sales are up because of sales in China... odd that a COMMUNIST country would love the idea of a GM product... right? I mean, after all, GM is a shining example of why Capitalism works... why would the commies want to own one...

[mich800]

So the other manufactures maybe could have staved off bankruptcy if they realized they could do fleet sales? Or is it more likely that they all have fleet sales. I know one of them claims to be commercial grade.

It amuses me that some use the "what truck is used by hot shotters" as a proxy for quality but somehow those responsible to maintaining a fleet of work trucks that are dependable and cost efficient are all just idiots that are throwing darts.

[x96mnn]

I think most companies have fleet contracts, at least where I am from. I think for a lot of buyers it comes down to price point. Where I live the ram 1500 dominates the market but the deal on the Rams here equally equipped is thousands cheaper then the chev and Ford. Hitting the 2500 and 3500 series you see a lot more fords again based on price. I considered the Ford f350 dually and brand new ordered in was the cheapest truck out there. Two things changed my mind, through the research it highly suggested I needed a Ford f450 to compare to the chev and dodge 3500 the price differance evened out. Ultimately I decided based on price.

[mosseater]

Feel free to correct me, going on memory, but wasn't the 150 not just the best selling truck in America, but the best selling VEHICLE in America for quite a few years? Just recently dropped that tag line and changed it to "truck" IIRC.

I agree, it doesn't make it the best truck by virtue of the sales numbers. But it does mean an aweful lot of people think it's the vehicle they'd rather drive at the price point compared to the competition. It doesn't need to be the best truck, it just has to cover the most bases for the most people at a price they can live with. I personally think it many times comes down to aethetics. When the realization hit me that not only did my truck have what I wanted for the price I was willing to pay, but I would also have to look at it in my driveway every day, it was a sealed deal. I like the looks of the Tundra's next, the new Rams are just OK. I've hated the looks of the Superduty's for several years now, really hoping for an upgrade til I'm ready to consider my next truck. And just what the heck is Chevy and GMC thinking? That whole squared wheel well look is just hiddeous to me. If I hate to look at it, I won't drive it.