The amount of incentives Chevy and Ram have put on their trucks to entice buyers has become a point of contention in the analysis of Ram outselling Silverado in March.
The Ram celebrated its best-ever sales month in March, highlighted by the fact it actually outsold the Chevrolet Silverado for the first time on a monthly basis in 15 years.
Ram sold 42,532 trucks compared with Chevy’s 42,247 Silverados last month. In discussing the flip-flop, GM officials suggested that its competitor bought market share with heavy incentives on its trucks.
Critics of the call out noted that Chevy turned right around, extended its current incentives, which were due to expire in April, and plunked more cash on the hood of selected Silverado models to ensure it takes back second place in the monthly truck sales race. Ford sold 70,940 F-Series models during the month, which was up 5% on year-over-year basis.
According to Automotive News, Chevy added “an additional $1,000 of bonus cash on light-duty Silverado double cabs that will help us get after the heart of the pickup market.”
Chevrolet’s Truck Month promotion in March offered discounted supplier pricing for all customers on its 2014 Silverado pickups and savings off sticker on certain models of up to $7,541.
For April, Chevrolet will expand those discounts. Savings now on 2014 models top out at $8,162 for the light-duty double cab V-8 and up to $8,974 for a 4×4 diesel Silverado 2500HD crew cab, the publication noted.
However, what may be missing from the equation is that even with the extension and the additional cash, GM’s incentives on its trucks are $1,200 lower than Ram’s. Additionally, the average transaction price for its trucks is $3,500 higher for Silverado. In short, GM’s call out, however unseemly, may be right.
That said, Chevy can take some comfort in knowing it holds second place for the year to date, with a more than 10,000-unit lead over the Ram brand: 107,757 Silverados to 96,906 Rams.
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Although that doesn’t mean Chevrolet should dismiss the event entirely. Not only did Ram outsell it in the heavy-duty segment – ¾-tons and above – last year, but momentum is not working in Chevy’s favor.
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It saw Silverado sales plunge an unexpected 7.6% during the first quarter, though sales did rebound a bit last month, with a 6.8% increase. But Ram volume surged 25.7% in March, and stands up 24.9% for the year-to-date. The segment’s behemoth, the Ford F-Series, saw sales gain 5.1% in March and 2.7% for the first quarter.
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With those issues trending, GM is looking shift the momentum. The extended and increased incentives are part of the plan. Additionally, they attempting to fire up the dealer troops by appealing to their competitive nature.
“Okay — time to take the gloves off and go back and take back what rightfully belongs to every one of you … Silverado truck sales,” a GM district manager wrote to dealers, according to Automotive News.