Through the first nine months of 2010, the auto industry is on pace to increase sales by 10 percent versus 2009, and pickup trucks are leading the charge. Bloomberg reports that bedded haulers are up 14 percent on the year, led by increased demand from the farming industry. Farmers have seen their revenues increase by $9 billion over last year, with both prices and demand rising in part because of droughts in Russia and Canada. Farmers are using their new-found dollars to invest in their businesses, and trucks are among the biggest and best tools in the box barn.

Automakers are beneficiaries of this investment, as truck sales climb and profits soar. Analyst Joe Barker of IHS Automotive claims that automakers can make up to $15,000 on each pickup sold, a figure that holds firmest when incentives are down. And with sales up, incentives have dipped. Edmunds shows that trucks have an average MSRP of $34,235, or about $2,000 higher than in 2009. Supply and demand really does work.

The biggest recipient of the increased demand for pickups has so far been Ford, which has seen the F-Series pickups jump by 31 percent. Chevy Silverado sales are up 17 percent as well. Even the Toyota Tundra, which has struggled in the U.S. market, is up 21 percent. The Ram appears to be the only truck suffering through the pickup truck boom, with sales down one percent year over year.



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Goes without saying, but then sales always go up in rural when there is an upturn in the ag economy and farmers decide to upgrade. It also depends greatly on what local availability is, and local allegiances to brands. Farm country has always been big Ford territory, mostly because Ford has always been aggressive with marketing in rural areas with big promotional sales to retain those numbers. However around here, I see a pretty equal mix of all big three for the last few years, but very few have Toyota's or anything else. They just don't make 3/4 ton or larger pickups. And I have also witnessed a HUGE increase in Duramax sales in our region. I personally know of 8 different people that were died in the wool blue oval fans for generations that have jumped fence to either Dodge or Chevy. Mostly Chevy D-Maxes in recent years. It depends on the region of the country though. For the most part, the guys that are beating on them hard are going to Chevy and Dodge. The 'Stroke problems have cost them a lot of sales, at least around here. As far as 1/2 ton models, I suppose the percentage is probably about right, but no one that really NEEDS a pickup out here buys a 1/2 ton. Unless it's used primarily as a car