Canada Big-Truck Sales Flat in January

Medium- and heavy-duty truck sales in Canada slipped 0.2% on a daily basis in January vs. year-ago, as all segments except Class 8 posted declines, WardsAuto data shows.

Class 8 deliveries rose 6.5% to 2,127 units, boosted by Volvo (+47.1%) and Mack (+40.5%). PACCAR brands saw mixed results as Kenworth deliveries increased 12.6% and Peterbilt declined 0.4%. Freightliner increased its stake in the sector, rising 15.8% and increasing share to 25.8%.

Overall medium-duty sales posted the worst January since 2010, selling only 644 units, 17.3% below last year.

Class 7 sales were down 5.6% with nearly every manufacturer reporting losses. Kenworth sank 26.0% and Peterbilt fell 12.1%. Class leader International rose 6.1% and Freightliner managed a slight 3.6% gain.

Sales in Class 6 tumbled 48.1% as a 44.2% jump in Ford sales, albeit on small volume, was not enough to offset heavy losses by all other manufacturers. Volume leader International slid from first to third with a 91.3% sales decline with only two units sold. Hino seized the title although its deliveries dropped 20.8% and Freightliner took over second place after a 37.8% loss.

Share leader Ford led Class 5, logging a 17.8% improvement while increasing its stake to 46.8%. Overall sales in the segment slipped 4.9% to 348 units compared with 352 year-ago. FCA was up 4.1% on sales of 118 units vs.109 a year-ago. International was the biggest loser, falling 70.6% on 11 units.

Class 4 suffered the worst performance of all classes, plunging 58.8% on deliveries of 51 units. Isuzu domestic models were the only line to post a gain, up 20.2%. while its import models fell 67.9%.

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