We’re already well underway with the final three months of the year, and just like it was in every aspect of our modern life, the automotive industry felt like a roller-coaster of emotions. For example, since the entire EV market is suffering in America, it was only logical that General Motors’ luxury arm Cadillac, which has a big EV lineup, would take a massive hit – they dropped 30% during the third quarter and lost 25% of deliveries compared to last year during the nine-month period.
Instead, overall, anyone who makes hybrids was pretty happy with itself, as electrified models that don’t need to be plugged in remained in high demand because gas prices are also extremely high. The small Mazda3 and MX-5 Miata were also bright spots as people increasingly flee back to affordable models due to the incredibly high transaction prices – the average transaction price has reached $50,562, just below the all-time record of $50,614 set in December 2025, according to the latest Kelley Blue Book report from Cox Automotive.
The Ford Mustang, still with no real opponent in the V8 field, was another bright spot, and it might crack 50k sales in 2026 for the first time in the past three years, but the Ford Motor Company is facing massive jeopardy in the truck department next year. That’s because General Motors has come up with a brand-new iteration for both the 2027 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 as well as the GMC Sierra 1500, while Ram became the best-selling brand for Stellantis during the third quarter, and the Ram 1500 sales jumped no less than 73 percent as the Hemi V8 is making an awaited comeback.
Photo: AutoYa / YouTube
Ram has sold 41% more 1500s this year, as the V8 helped them get back on the right track – the allocation for the new Rumble Bee with the base 5.7-liter sold in less than two hours, and that was the base model, there are two more tiers above it including the 777-hp version akin to the TRX. Clearly, the Ford F-Series needs to up its game in order to keep naming itself the best-selling truck in America and also the most popular nameplate overall.
This year, if they nail the milestone, Ford will claim half a century of continuous laurels as America’s best-selling truck, while overall it would be their 46th. The Blue Oval Company is phasing out important models, like the Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair, and its third quarter sales reflected that: 509,764 vehicles, down 6.6% from last year’s third quarter. The Ford F-Series has been plagued by problems all year long, so Ford is actually lucky that during Q3 they sold 2.4% more, thanks also to the Super Duty, which reached a production of 110,275 trucks, up 4.4% and the best quarterly result in 19 years.
Through September, F-Series sales reached 561,508 trucks, extending the lead over the generation-changing Chevrolet Silverado to more than 140k units. However, GM has two lines, and Silverado plus Sierra continue to outnumber the F-Series. Additionally, the new 1500s are coming to dealerships, and next year they will be brand-new and the F-150 last got the big mid-cycle refresh in late 2023 for the 2024 model year.
Photo: AutoYa / YouTube
The Ram 1500 is also going strong thanks to the Hemi V8’s return, and now Stellantis has both off-road performance models – RHO and TRX, as well as a three-model Super Bee family for the road warriors, too. What should Ford do to keep its supremacy? Well, it’s simple, actually: the rumor mill, supported by members of the imaginative guild of digital car content creators dwelling across the parallel universes of vehicular CGI, envisions that it’s time for a new generation, the fifteenth by its F-Series name.
More precisely, the good folks over at the “AutoYa” info channel on YouTube have unofficially imagined the CGI look of the all-new 2028 or 2029 Ford F-150, aka ‘XV ‘, and the channel’s host claims that next year the Ford Motor Company is expected to show us the next generation of their full-sized pickup truck F-150 XV, for the 2028 model year or even the 2029MY.
The host believes that Ford will introduce new EREV (extended range EV) and PHEV (plug-in hybrid) powertrains along with a thoroughly updated P702 architecture. After these thoughts, he passes the baton to the resident virtual artist, who illustrated what the new 2028 or 2029 Ford F-150 fifteenth generation might look like, both inside and outside, as well as complete with a ton of different shades both for the exterior as well as the interior. So, what do you think – yay or nay?
