Whether the driver wears a cowboy hat or not, the seasons, roads and terrain of Wyoming mean pickups are the choice for drivers in the state.
Automotive writer Aaron Turpen said his research shows the Ford F-150 and Dodge Ram 1500 typically are “neck-and-neck” when it comes to preferences of state residents.
“And the most popular color is red outside of white and black,” he said.
Turpen’s observations are mirrored by automotive data analysts that track both new and used sales of vehicles in the state.
The website iSeeCars.com shows that nationally those pickups and the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 led used car sales in 2024.
iSeeCars representative Kara Lawton provided Cowboy State Daily with an analysis of 7.7 million used vehicles sold in the U.S. in 2024 for model years 2019 to 2023 with state-by-state breakdowns. It reveals the Ford F-150 is king in Wyoming.
“The Ford F-150 emerged as the most popular used vehicle in 33 states, further cementing its stronghold on the American automotive market,” iSeeCars analysts said. “Wyoming leads the pack with the F-150 making up a staggering 7.2% of 1-to-5-year-old used car sales, closely followed by Montana at 7.1% and North Dakota at 6.8%.”
The automotive analysts at iSeeCars stated that pickup trucks continue to fare well in the nation’s landscape because of their “versatility, durability, and ability to meet diverse needs.”
In Wyoming, the F-150 was followed in the used vehicle study by the Dodge Ram 1500 with 5.1%, Chevy Silverado at 3.9%, GMC Sierra at 3.2% and Toyota Tacoma at 2.7%.
Lawton said her organization found that the Ford Explorer represented the state’s best-selling SUV in the study of 1-to-5-year-old used cars. It came in at 2.2% of sales in 2024.
The F-150 was at the top of sales in states throughout the Mountain West except for Nevada whose residents choose the Toyota Tacoma, which grabbed 2.1% of the used car sales market in 2024, according to iSeeCars.com.
Plenty of Ford F-150s, and other pickup models, are front and center at Cheyenne's Ford dealership, which makes sense because the F-150 is Wyoming's most popular vehicle. (Greg Johnson, Cowboy State Daily) 
A Ford dealership in Casper knows its market. Auto analysts for the state say the Ford F-150 is the top selling new and used vehicle in the Wyoming. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
Black, red and white are the most popular color for trucks in the state, according to one automotive writer. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
As a state with a truck culture, the F-150 claimed 4.1% of new vehicle sales in Wyoming in 2024. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
In a state where drivers like to tow trailers, the medium and heavy-duty truck classification represented 20.2% of new vehicle sales in 2024. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily)
A Truck Culture
Turpen said in Wyoming pickups are a natural choice because of the state’s truck culture. The F-150’s sales result in part from commercial buyers as well as consumers. The automaker has more dealers across the country than any other vehicle manufacturer.
“The Ram truck is popular here because people tow,” Turpen said. “And that truck has a reputation for towing the best, so it sells. And plus, the Ram truck, it looks tough.”
In Gillette, White’s Energy Motors sells new Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge products and used vehicles. White’s spokesman Jeffery Garrett said his “working class” community buys a lot of heavy-duty trucks and trucks in general.
“The Cummins is the super popular engine that is in the one ton and three-quarter ton (pickups) which would be the 2500 and 3500 in the Ram lineup,” he said. In addition to the Ram on the used side, “Ford, Chevy and other domestic brands are usually more popular.”
The Cummins engine is a diesel that Dodge has used since 1989 for several versions of its Ram trucks. The engines used in current models represent the fifth generation of the engine.
In Dodge’s new half-ton Ram, the company changed engines, moving away from the Hemi-V8 engine to a 3-liter, inline-six-cylinder twin-turbo engine called the Hurricane, and Garrett said some older customers are questioning the switch.
“It’s high horsepower and high torque and fuel efficiency,” he said, “but a lot of your older guys around here still want to see that natural V-8, not forced induction.”
The Grand Cherokee is the most popular SUV that Garrett said the dealership offers, while on the used side Ford Explorers, Chevy Tahoes and Chevy Suburbans also sell well.
At the Wyoming Automobile Dealers Association, Executive Director Marsha Allen said her group uses Cross-Sell Vehicle Data and that information shows that 25,015 new vehicles were sold across its 49 dealerships in the state in 2024.
According to Cross-Sell, the Ford F-150 claimed 4.1% of the new vehicle market share followed by the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 with 3.4%, and the Ford F-350 Super Duty with 3.3% of sales coming in third.
Various truck models represented the top nine new vehicles sold and the 10th was the Subaru Outback SUV.
New vehicle sales data for 2024 from Cross-Sell showed that the full-size sport utility vehicle segment in 2024 represented 24.2% of the state’s market, medium and heavy trucks were 20.2%, compact sport utility was 19.4%, full-size pickups were at 14.4%, compact pickups at 6.2%, small sport utility at 4.7%, mid-sized sport utility 4.1% followed by minivans, 1.9%, sporty cars, 1.4%, and compact cars, 1.3%.
Allen said she has been with the association for 36 years and pickups always have been the best-selling vehicles in Wyoming.
“At least 2-to-1,” she said.
The Top 10s
The F-150 tops the list of most popular new and used vehicles with Wyoming buyers, as reported by Cross-Sell Vehicle Data.
New Car Sales In 2024:
• Ford F-150
• Chevrolet Silverado 1500
• Ford F-350 Super Duty
• Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD
• Ford F-250 Super Duty
• Dodge Ram 2500
• GMC Sierra 1500
• Toyota Tacoma
• Dodge Ram 3500
• Subaru Outback
Used Car Sales In 2024:
• Ford F-150
• Dodge Ram 1500
• Chevrolet Silverado 1500
• GMC Sierra 1500
• Toyota Tacoma
• Ford Explorer
• Jeep Grand Cherokee
• Chevrolet Equinox
• Toyota 4Runner
• Jeep Gladiator
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
