For the first time ever, pickup trucks made by Toyota have outsold those manufactured by Chrysler ’s Dodge division. In 2008, Dodge sold 275,884 midsize and full-size trucks, compared to 281,904 for Toyota. This gives Toyota third position, behind Ford and GM, according to data released by research firm AutoPacific.
Put another way, Dodge commanded a 13.8 percent slice of the 2,003,294-unit pickup market, while Toyota had a 14.1 percent market share. As you can see, the difference is subtle — but it’s an important symbolic victory for Toyota, which had a 5 percent pickup truck market share just 10 years ago.
Toyota’s strength remains in the mid-size segment, where its Tacoma commands a 36.8 percent share with 144,655 units, compared to GM’s 17.8 percent, Ford ’s 16.8 percent, and Dodge’s 6.6 percent share. While sales of all mid-size pickups declined, Toyota’s declined the least.
In the full-size space, GM is king with a 41.8 percent market share. Ford trails GM with a 32.3 percent slice of the pie, while Dodge commands just half that figure with 15.3 percent of the market. Toyota holds a distant 8.5 percent share of the full-size market.
