(December 11, 2014) SANTA MONICA, Calif. — TrueCar has found mainstream pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles dominate U.S. vehicle sales with transaction prices exceeding $50,000, accounting for six of the 10 best sellers in that portion of the market.

Ford's F-Series pickup trucks lead the industry in sales of vehicles with transaction prices over $50,000 by a wide margin, with projected volume of 189,776 units this year, based on TrueCar forecasts. That will likely surpass total U.S. volume of luxury car benchmarks including BMW's combined 3, 5 and 7 Series sales or total deliveries for the Audi brand this year.

"Conventional wisdom says German premium brands would dominate the list of top-selling vehicles over $50,000," said John Krafcik, president of TrueCar. "The reality is that this price segment of the market is dominated by American pickups and SUVs sold through non-premium brand dealers."

Continued improvements in the U.S. economy, including recovering housing and construction starts and relatively inexpensive fuel, have buoyed demand for trucks and luxury vehicles this year. TrueCar projects total sales of high-priced models to far exceed 1 million units this year.



Some 8.1 percent of total industry volume this year will be cars and trucks transacting for more than $50,000, up from 6.6 percent of total sales in 2013, based on TrueCar data. By comparison, through November the average transaction price for all new vehicles is $31,831 this year with overall auto sales growing 5.4 percent.

Ford's revenue from F-Series transacting at prices over $50,000 will be approximately $10.8 billion, representing about a third of total revenue for the pickup line, which TrueCar estimates at $32.2 billion. F-Series is the best-selling and highest-revenue model line in the U.S. auto industry.

Fiat Chrysler's Ram pickups rank second in the over-$50,000 price segment with estimated sales of 76,266 this year. Mercedes-Benz's E-Class sedan — a luxury benchmark — is third in the over-$50,000 group with estimated sales of 67,006.

"It wasn't so long ago that $30,000 was considered an important pricing threshold and the province of premium brands only," Krafcik said. "A better economy, cheaper gasoline and improving vehicle quality have changed that. Now, with over a million new vehicle sales transacting over $50,000, it's fair to say '50 is the new 30.'"