Three Top Selling Vehicles: Ford F Series, Chevy Silverado, Dodge RAM

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - July 07, 2016) - Price changes in one industry often affect others positively (or negatively) and with record pickup sales, accessory manufacturers like Truxmart LTD Inc. (OTCQB: FNHI) have become beneficiaries of the truck sales increases. For example, as a result of gas prices staying at about $2 a gallon in the U.S., "Customers continued to snap up pricier trucks and sport-utility vehicles with sales of those models climbing 11%" according to recent Autodata reports. Many dealers can't keep up with the demand. In June, there were 225,110 light trucks sold, a 13% increase year over year, said the Wall Street Journal. At least 70,000 of those were F-series pickups, the Journal said.

The three top-selling U.S. vehicles are no longer passenger vehicles. They are trucks -- Ford Motor Company's F series, GM's Chevy Silverado and Chrysler's Dodge RAM followed by Toyota's Tacoma and Tundra, according to the Journal.

/EINPresswire.com/ -- Truxmart's Rossi says he is "excited about the truck accessories market, due to highly positive sales trends." Truck sales trends have been on an upward trend for almost an entire decade, Rossi said. "When a truck is sold, there is usually an accompanying accessory sale, like a tonneau cover." And the recent trend is remarkable: last year, according to motorintelligence.com, some "2,544,589 trucks were sold." This year, through June, there were "1,278,941 trucks sold, up 7.1 per cent over last year." For every truck sold in the United States, online sales of aftermarket accessories have showed year over year increases over traditional brick and mortar stores. In fact, according to Hedges & Company, "Sales of auto parts & accessories continued to climb in 2015, and will continue the trend into 2016 to reach $7.4 billion dollars, posting around a 16% increase over 2015."

"Sales of trucks and sport utility vehicles are rapidly outpacing sales of all other vehicle types in the U.S. as consumers ditch four-door sedans and flock to a seemingly endless selection of small, midsize and gargantuan SUVs," noted International Business Times. "Deliveries of pickup trucks and SUVs shot up… And this is more than just a temporary trend, according to Michelle Krebs, senior analyst at Autotrader.com. "I don't see any change in consumers favoring sport utilities and trucks over small and midsize cars," said Krebs.

Erich Merkle, sales analyst at Ford Motor, quoted in the Detroit Free Press, said that Ford's F-Series pickup truck just entered its 34th consecutive year as the country's most popular vehicle. The F-Series include heavy versions of the F truck, but the F-150 makes up most of Ford truck sales. In this climate, many pickup truck and full-size SUV assembly plants will forego the usual two-week summer shutdown due to strong demand for select models, The Free Press said. Most other plants making cars and smaller crossovers will take the traditional vacation hiatus.

The Free Press noted that U.S. plants producing the GM half-ton twins (the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500) and the Ford F-Series pickup will take minimal time off in the July 4 week. Ram's Warren, Mich., truck plant will take the regular two weeks off, but the Saltillo, Mexico, plant will not take a break. Most truckmakers predict a strong summer for sales as fuel prices remain low and incentive spending remains attractive.

"We believe tonneau covers might be the number one pickup truck accessory," said Steven Rossi, Truxmart's President. "Nearly every light truck owner needs a cover. It's a serious market for us and other manufacturers. Auto dealers can't keep up with truck demand and we are often sold out of our products as a result, demand for our products has never been stronger."

A wholly owned subsidiary of Franchise Holdings International, Inc., Truxmart has developed multiple tonneau products for these pickup trucks and many others in North America, including those from Japanese manufacturers.

As a recent innovation for the pickup truck market, Truxmart recently introduced the Forte product line, a next-generation tonneau cover, which is 20 pounds lighter than its predecessor, extremely scratch resistant and even easier to install. It delivers improved quality at a competitive price. "The Forte's new design has reduced our overall cost to manufacture, providing lower prices to customers," said Rossi, when introducing the product. "The new, highly refined Forte is tremendously exciting. We have broken new ground from a quality and price perspective, while increasing margins for the company. We are looking forward to keeping pace with the truck market."

For more information on Truxmart, please visit www.truxmartcovers.com

About Franchise Holdings International.

Truxmart, Franchise Holdings International's wholly owned subsidiary, was founded in 2011 to take advantage of the limited innovation provided by existing tonneau cover manufacturers. Tonneau covers have remained much the same in price and design since 2005 with one main company controlling a majority of the tonneau cover market. This dynamic market segment is in need of a new innovative manufacturer of high quality, functional, and aggressively priced tonneau covers. Truxmart has developed multiple products for all of the most prominent pick up trucks available in North America. Details of most products can be found at www.truxmartcovers.com. Truxmart sells its products through master warehouse distributors, dealers, and online retailers in North America and is expanding to Central and South American distribution of its products.

Steven Rossi
1 888 554 8789
investors@truxmartcovers.com