Canada Big-Truck Sales Finish Strong In December

Canada’s big trucks finished the year on a positive note, posting sales gains for the third month in a row as December deliveries rose 18.8% with all segments reporting increases from year-ago, WardsAuto data shows.

Combined medium- and heavy-duty deliveries for full-year 2014 were up 5.2% on volume of 42,496 units, against 40,398 year-ago.

Class 8 deliveries jumped 18.7%, lifted by International, up 53.9% to 359 units, while Daimler’s Freightliner brand rose 36.7%. PACCAR’s Kenworth saw sales increase 38.3%, although its Peterbilt brand experienced a loss of 14.3%.  For the year, Class 8 finished up 5.9% on volume of 29,043 units against 27,430 in 2013.

Sales in the medium-duty segment showed a robust 19.1% gain for the month as calendar 2014 deliveries finished up 3.7%.

Class 7 sales posted double-digit gains, up 21.4%, mostly due to a 68.0% spike by share leader International. Freightliner logged the strongest result, up 78.9%, and Ford was up 37.1%.

Class 6 was the best-performing sector in December as three manufacturers reported triple-digit gains. Peterbilt(+452.0%), Ford(+380.0%) and Freightliner(+212.0) led the group. International was the only brand to lose ground, falling 66.8%. For the year, however, the class finished down 5.4%.

Class 5 deliveries increased 14.7% to 534 units compared with 447 year-ago. Freightliner led the group, posting a 476.0% increase, while FCA was up 44.9%. Top seller Ford reported a 4.6% gain.

Isuzu continued to lead Class 4 with sales of its domestic and import models up 236.0% and 284.0%, respectively. The overall segment finished December on a 1.1% uptick but was down 7.6% for the year.

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