Many car classes in the auto market are heating up these days and the top four are the alternative fuel vehicle class, muscle car class, crossover class, and truck class. The three big names in the truck industry are Ford, Chevrolet, and Ram. This year, the three brands will be battling it out, trying to take over as the new name in trucks. It’s not just about the money or the entertaining tech, either. It really comes down to performance when picking the best truck for 2018, and Ram and Chevrolet are gearing up to take on Ford once and for all.

For the past four decades in the United States, Ford has held the title for the best-selling light duty pickup truck, the F-150. Along with the rest of their F-series, Ford wracked up nearly $1 million in sales in 2017. That’s quite a lot of moola, and although Ford had a bumpy start when they started assembling the F-150 with lightweight aluminum, other auto brands, such as Jeep are also researching automotive aluminum construction.

The Ford F-series has a long history. The Ford F-150 has been around since 1948, and in 2015, it entered its 13th generation. That’s a whole lot of work that went into making it one of the best trucks in the auto industry. The full-size Ford pickup starts at $27,610 and has plenty going for it. When equipped with a crew cab, the cabin can fit five people and it has a maximum best-in-class (for 2018) towing capacity of 13,200 pounds. The Ford F-150 is available in seven trims, so consumers can get a bare basics truck or ride around in something a little more plush.

Ford needs to watch out in 2018, however.  The debut of America’s second-best-selling pickup truck is right around the corner, and this year they have Ford in their sights. General Motors’ Chevrolet division will debut their new 2019 Chevy Silverado at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show. The new Silverado is set to go on sale in late 2018, and it is quite the beauty.

Chevy recently celebrated their Centennial Anniversary with Centennial Special Edition Silverado and Colorado Trucks. 100 years is a long time to trust an auto brand for trucks, and with the Chevrolet Silverado only in its third generation, it seems that Chevy has been pretty successful at making the Silverado a fairly timeless truck.

Now in 2018, the fourth generation will debut with the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado with a new sleek style and some interesting tech. Specs for the 2019 Chevy Silverado haven’t been announced yet, so we can’t talk much about towing capacity or price, but anyone who requires an internet connection to work will appreciate the available 4G LTE WiFi setup found in the 2019 Chevrolet SIlverado.

Then there’s the 2019 Ram 1500, spy shots galore! The 2019 Ram 1500 light duty pickup truck can’t seem to keep its covers on because pictures and news about it seem to get leaked every few weeks. Ram had a lot of special edition trucks come out in 2017, so our interest for 2018 has definitely been piqued.

Cheaper than the F-150 or the Chevrolet Silverado, the 2018 Ram 1500 starts at $27,095. Talk says a similar price will carry over to 2019, but really it’s anyone guess. After the 2019 model-year, Ram will enter its fifth generation of pickup trucks, light duty and heavy duty, 1500, 2500, 3500, 4500, and 5500. With half a million units sold every year, its super-aggressive big-rig styling, fancy interior, and high suspension make the Ram 1500 as capable as any other truck, but also makes it the most sophisticated looking in its class. Like the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado, specs have yet to be announced for the 2019 Ram 1500 light duty pickup truck, so we’ll have to see how much it’s improved during the 2018 Detroit Auto Show.

What do you think? Can Chevy and Ram usurp Ford once and for all this year? Talk about it on NowCar social media.

Photo Source/Copyright: Chevrolet.com; RamTrucks.com; Ford.com