Canada Big-Truck Sales Inch Up 0.1% in April

Sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks in Canada managed a slight 0.1% gain in April as losses in Class 8 tempered gains in all other weight classes, WardsAuto data shows.

Class 8 was down 2.4% on unit volume of 2,560 vs. 2,623 prior-year as losses by Daimler’s segment leader Freightliner (-11.3%) and Western Star (-16.3%) overshadowed sales gains by Mack (+34.2%) and International(+12.4%). Kenworth sales slipped 9.6% while Peterbilt fell 8.9%, driving down overall parent PACCAR sales 9.3%. For the year, Class 8 was down 4.5% on sales of 8,340 units.

Overall medium-duty sales rose 5.8% on sales of 1,205 units against 1,139 year-ago, boosted by positive results in all classes. For the year, the medium-duty group was up 6.7% on sales of 4,156 units.

In Class 7, segment leader International posted a 16.8% gain while Peterbilt was up 19.6% as all other manufacturers suffered losses. Ford was down 54.5% and Hino dropped 36.7%, both on small volume.

Class 6 performed the best among all segments as deliveries soared 40.0%. All manufacturers posted year-over-year gains led by Hino, up 53.3%, and volume leader International, up 45.7%. Ford and Kenworth posted triple-digit increases, albeit on small volume.

Chrysler continued its strong performance in Class 5 as sales jumped 175.7%, nearly tripling its share from 12.1% year-ago to 33.1%. Nearly all other manufacturers suffered double-digit losses as group leader Ford sales skidded 22.7%.  Overall Class 5 deliveries finished the month up a mere 1.0%, and ahead 3.1% through the first four months.

Hino was the leading gainer in Class 4, with domestic models up 121.4%. This was enough to boost overall sales 12.1% as all other manufacturers fell into the red. Class leader Ford was down 18.2% as its share slid from 62.0% last year to 45.3% in April.

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