Canada Big Truck Sales Down 26.7% in March

Big-truck deliveries in Canada were down 26.7% on a daily sales basis in March with 3,275 units, compared with 4,294 from prior-year, WardsAuto data shows.

Sales in Class 8 fell 36.1% to 1,915 units. All manufacturers posted double-digit losses. Share leader Freightliner sales declined 26.1% on 752 units while still increasing share to 39.3%. The worst performers were Volvo, down 62.6%, and Kenworth, 44.9% below prior-year. Western Star showed the smallest drop, 19.6%, but with the smallest volume.

Medium-duty orders totaled 1,360 units, 7.5% less than year-ago.

Class 7 sales totaled 354 units, dropping 19.3%. International posted a 12.9% decline. The biggest decreases came from PACCAR’s Peterbilt (-49.1%) and Kenworth (-37.4%), leaving the parent company down 43.7% from March 2015. Hino (+9.2%) and Ford (+37.4) were the only gainers.

Class 6 took the sharpest downturn, plummeting 41.9% to 84 units. Top seller Hino gained 9%, increasing share from 21.6% last year to 40.5%.  Freightliner’s deliveries fell 76.7%. International also declined greatly, losing 59.2%

Deliveries in Class 5 rose just 0.1% to 710 units. Share leader Ford was up 39.9%, but FCA posted a 4.8% decline and Hino lost 11.7%. The greatest declines came from small-volume manufacturers.

Class 4 was the best-performing segment in March, as deliveries rose 19.2% to 212 units vs. 171 year-ago. Ford continued to dominate the segment on sales of 155 units, a 41.9% gain from like-2015. Isuzu domestic models increased tenfold to 22 units while its imported trucks fell 47.6%. The remaining OEMs, Hino and Mitsubishi Fuso, saw year-over-year declines.

Over the first three months of the year medium-and heavy-truck deliveries totaled 8,627 units, 14.7% less than the same period in 2015.

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