The U.S. auto industry has displayed strong growth throughout 2014 and into 2015, with automakers selling over 16.7 million units last year and that growth only expected to continue. Nowhere is the gain more apparent than in pickup truck sales, where Ford, RAM and GM have all seen double-digit percentage gains in January 2015 after a strong 2014.

What are the driving factors behind so many pickup trucks finding their way into American driveways? Here are five contributing reasons:

The Return of the Midsize Truck

Smaller, lighter trucks used to be a common sight on American roads, but U.S. automakers bowed out of the segment entirely for several years, leaving Toyota, Nissan and Honda as the sole players. The Toyota Tacoma has dominated sales even as its platform and powertrains were getting a little long in the tooth. For 2015, General Motors storms back into the midsize segment with the 27-mpg-highway Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon trucks. Buyers have responded, driving up segment sales as Toyota prepares to release a heavily updated version of its Tacoma for 2016.

New Full-Size Trucks from Ford and GM

Profitable full-size pickup trucks make up a huge portion of the Detroit Big Three automakers’ revenue. In the last 2 model years, Ford and GM have each released all-new versions of their popular full-size models, leading to an uptick in buyers who were waiting for the new-generation trucks to hit the market. The new-for-2015 Ford F-150 has made a particularly big splash with its aluminum-intensive body, bed and chassis helping cut around 700 pounds of weight when compared with the 2014 truck. While less ground-breaking, Chevrolet and GMC’s newest full-size trucks have struck a chord with legions of buyers as well, thanks to much more fuel efficient engines and comfortable interiors.

Low Fuel Prices

Toward the tail end of 2014 and into 2015, fuel prices hit their lowest levels in more than 5 years, with regular gasoline selling at less than $2 per gallon in nearly all U.S. markets. When gasoline prices go down, consumers tend to drift more toward large, powerful vehicles and away from compact cars and hybrids. The trend toward ultra-low fuel prices appears to be reversing itself, particularly on the West Coast where an explosion at a large Exxon refinery in Torrance, California has contributed to a 70-cent rise in prices in just a few weeks. Still, experts predict fuel should stay relatively affordable at least into 2016.

Luxury Truck Trim Levels

From Ford’s Platinum and Raptor trim levels to the Chevrolet High Country, RAM Laramie Longhorn and GMC Denali, pickup trucks can now be ordered with all the interior luxury and quality of a finely crafted German sedan. This luxury truck segment, with base prices reaching $50,000 or even $60,000, courts a different sort of truck buyer, one who needs the capability of a pickup but will make no compromises in comfort. These trucks, usually offered in crew cab form with expansive interiors, bring conquest buyers that may have otherwise opted for a crossover or luxury car. They are also hugely profitable for the trucks’ producers.

Incentive Wars

The mighty F-150 has been the nation’s best-selling consumer vehicle for more than 30 years. In the lead-up to the long-awaited 2015 replacement’s release, GM and RAM slashed prices and upped the level of available incentives on their own full-size models in an effort to cut into Ford’s market share. The strategy worked, with RAM gaining ground to control 21.3 percent of the truck market in the third quarter of 2014 to over 35 percent when combining totals of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra. Whether the strategy of offering up to $8,500 in incentives on a new pickup is sustainable or not is another question, but buyers are the clear winners here.

What can truck buyers look for in 2015 and 2016 going forward? Nissan just debuted its all-new 2016 Titan full-size, offering 12,500 pounds of towing capacity thanks to a powerful turbo-diesel V-8 built by Cummins. Honda will debut its next Ridgeline midsize soon, and Toyota’s updated Tacoma will seek to steal back some of the midsize thunder from GM. Truck buyers have more credible options than at any time in recent memory, and sales are expected to keep flying high.

The information for this article was provided by the professionals of 99 Truck Parts & Industrial Equipment Ltd., who specialize in truck parts in Vancouver, BC.