Canada Big Truck Sales Rise 17.3% in August

Canada truck makers continue to outpace 2016 with large gains in all classes. Medium- and heavy-duty truck sales grew 17.3% in August to 3,284 units compared to 2016’s 2,691. Year-to-date sales were 10.8% ahead of last year, totaling 26,251.

For the third month in a row, Canada Class 8 sales rose 18.4% to 2,228. Aside from Freightliner’s 6.1% drop in sales, all other truck makers posted large gains. International (+69.5%), Kenworth (+25.3%) and Volvo (+34.0%) were the top three manufacturers in terms of growth for the month. Through the first eight months of the year, sales hit 16,001 units, 5.8% ahead of like-2016’s 15,121.

Medium-duty truck sales were up 15.3% with 1,056 deliveries in August. With eight straight months of year-over-year gains, 2017 sales totaled 10,250 deliveries, up 19.5% from last year’s 8,575.

Class 7, the only class to underperform in August, plummeted 32.5% to 313 units from year-ago’s 446. Ford and Hino were the only truck makers to see growth, 476.9% and 57.5%, respectively. Volume leader International cut sales in half, dropping to 131 units, and double-digit declines by Freightliner (-42.3%) and PACCAR (-24.7%) kept sales in the negative.

Sales in Class 6 grew 15.7% to 77 deliveries. International and PACCAR posted large gains of 428.8% and 212.5%, respectively, while all other truck makers underperformed but on small volume.

Class 5 accounted for the bulk of big-truck gains, with nearly all brands enjoying double-digit increases. Sales almost doubled to 501 units, compared with 264 year-ago. Ford led all brands, posting a 98.4% gain and raising its stake to 45.3% from 41.7% in prior-year.

Class 4 sales hit 165 units, 48.3% up from last year’s 107. Class leader Ford reported an 80.1% increase, raising its stake to 71.5%, up from 58.9% last year. Isuzu’s domestic line dropped 14.0% but its imports rose 70.9%. Hino’s sales were cut in half, dropping to only five deliveries.

[email protected]