A Game of Pickup

Like the Yankees and Red Sox, Coke and Pepsi, Marvel and D.C., the Ford and Chevy rivalry is a generational affair that has no clear winner — but Ford aficionados have earned plenty of bragging rights. Ford owners tend to be brand loyalists, and it shows in the sales figures. Dollars and cents aside, here are the real reasons that Ford fans would never trade up for a Chevy, whether in the compact, full-size, or heavy-duty lines.

Related: 32 Most Reliable Trucks of All Time



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Aluminum Turned Out to Be a Smart Move, After All

When Ford switched from steel to aluminum alloy for the bodies of its F-150s — the frames are still steel — Chevy launched an ad campaign mocking the move. Steel, after all, is much more macho than the silly stuff airplanes are made from. The campaign backfired. The F-150 shed hundreds of pounds without sacrificing performance, and the major players in the industry scrambled to catch up. Among them was Chevy, which swallowed its pride and announced that it would be making a move toward aluminum bodies on its own trucks in the future.

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Before Aluminum, It Was Diesel



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Chevy Has Always Been a Step Behind

It’s not just recent innovations. Chevy has been copycatting Ford trucks since, well, it copycatted the Ford truck. In 1917, the truck became America’s working vehicle when Ford unveiled the Model TT, which was available as a chassis only. One year later in 1918, Chevy introduced the Model 490, which also was a truck chassis only that required the addition of a bed, body, and cab.

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Chevy’s Standard Bearer Is Not the F-150

The F-150 arrived in 1975 as a compromise between the F-100 and the F-250 — and what a compromise it was. The most popular model in the most popular series of trucks in America year after year and decade after decade, the F-150 is, without question, America’s truck. The icon’s counterpart in Chevy world, on the other hand, is the Silverado, which is essentially a GMC Sierra in a cheap tuxedo.



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The F-150 Is the Safest Truck in Its Class

The Ford F-150, with its aluminum body, is the only pickup awarded a Top Safety Pick rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The truck aced all five major tests, including a brand-new test that simulates the effects of hitting a pole or a tree. It wasn’t just Chevy that got lost in Ford’s shadow; Ram, Toyota, and GMC were also left in the dust.

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There’s That Little Discrepancy in Payload Capacity



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Unless You Buy New, the Silverado Loses Out on Towing, Too

Chevy increased the max towing capacity for the Silverado 1500 to 13,400 pounds for 2020, a bit more than the 13,200 that’s been available on the F-150 since 2015. That’s a little bit of good news — 200 pounds worth, at least — for Chevy people, but only if they’re buying brand new. Anyone looking for a deal on a new 2019, or looking to save big on a gently used late model Silverado, forfeits 1,000 pounds of towing capacity to a comparable F-150.

Related: 32 Most Reliable Trucks of All Time



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The Entry-Level Chevy Is a Pricing Trap

With a starting MSRP of $21,300, it seems that Chevy’s entry-level midsize Colorado is a better deal than the $24,110 starting MSRP attached to the comparable Ford Ranger. The base Ford, however, has far more features and a better engine. To move up to a trim package that gives you something similar on a Colorado, you’ll have to shell out $24,800 — and it takes $41,400 to make it to the top of the line. The top-of-the-line Ranger package, on the other hand, tops out at $32,500. Ford drivers don’t like being played with trim-package trickery.

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The Entry-Level Ford Offers More Standard Safety Features



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Chevy’s Heavy Duty Line Can’t Compete

Ford’s Super Duty line is 18 models strong, each with its own suite of packages, and the comparable Chevy Silverado HD line simply can’t compete. The XD line is known for rough rides at low speeds and are saddled with a dated interior look. The popular Ford F-250 packs more tech, safety, and driver-assist features standard than the comparable Silverado 2500.



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Ford’s Infotainment System Is Sweeter

Ford is moving to the SYNC 4 infotainment system, which debuted on the 2020 Explorer. It features an 8-inch screen standard and increases its computing power by a multiplier of two compared with the previous incarnation. The Chevrolet Infotainment 3 system, on the other hand, is 7 inches — Chevy drivers have to upgrade if they want to get to 8. Screen size, however, is not the only consideration. The SYNC 4 is more user-friendly and more intuitive than Chevy’s version, unless you’re willing to pay more to upgrade.

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Chevy Is Just Another Piece of the GM Portfolio

Japan’s Toyota, Germany’s Volkswagen, and South Korea’s Hyundai are the world’s three biggest automakers in terms of annual production. In terms of American brands — no Ford or Chevy aficionado would ever be caught in a Tundra or a Santa Cruz — Ford comes in second behind only GM, but it’s not a fair comparison. GM includes the Chevy brand, but it also includes Buick and Cadillac. Standing only on its own two feet, Ford produced 6,386,818 vehicles compared with just 6,856,880 for the entire GM collective combined.

Related: 33 Greatest American Trucks of All Time



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The Ford Name and Legacy

Louis Chevrolet was a giant of the automotive industry and great pioneer, no doubt — but there can be only one Henry Ford. Ford, the man and the company, not only revolutionized the automobile industry, but helped create the American middle class with the $5 wage and the five-day, 40-hour workweek. (He did not, however, invent the car.) His creation of the modern assembly line became the blueprint for the entire American manufacturing sector. The Chevy and Ford lines of trucks are undeniably comparable, but only one carries the name of what might be the most consequential name in the history of U.S. industry.

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The Numbers Don’t Lie

In terms of sales, Ford is the winning team by many, many miles. Not only has Ford been the bestselling brand in America for a decade, but the jewel in the Ford crown is its F-Series line of trucks. With 896,526 F-Series pickups sold in 2019 alone, it holds the remarkable distinction of being the bestselling truck in America for 43 straight years, leaving Chevy — and all other truck makers — as nothing more than specks in the rearview mirror.

Related: The Bestselling Cars From the Past 40 Years



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15/15 SLIDES