General Motors Company (GM), Ford Motor Company (F): King Of The Hill

Ford’s F-150 Atlas concept. Photo: Ford Motor.

Investing takeaway

The development of truck sales may be the most important thing to Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) and General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) investors, because it’s estimated that each truck sale can bring as much as $10,000 in bottom-line profits. That’s a large amount per vehicle, and full-size trucks are estimated to bring in the majority of profits for the two automakers. On top of profits, the F-Series and Silverado are the two best-selling vehicles in the U.S. by a landslide, which means they represent the fastest way to gain or lose market share — a figure that investors eye very closely. Moreover, transaction prices of trucks continue to rise faster than the industry average, according to TrueCar — meaning that every year, full-size truck sales become more and more important.

If Ford continues to widen its lead in full-size truck sales, its revenues, profits, and market share will continue to improve as we’ve seen over the past year, during which time Ford’s stock price has responded with a 73% rise. If Ford’s next generation F-150 is a hit and continues to dominate the full-size segment, it will be a huge win for investors over the next five years.

The article Will Chevy’s 2014 Silverado Top Ford’s F-Series? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Daniel Miller.

Fool contributor Daniel Miller owns shares of Ford and General Motors. The Motley Fool recommends Ford and General Motors and owns shares of Ford.

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