Canada Big Truck Sales Rose 11.3% in October

Canada’s big-truck sales were up 11.3% in October, the best result since June and the highest October total since 2006, WardsAuto data shows. Combined medium- and heavy-duty deliveries through 10 months were up 3.9% on volume of 35,432 units against 34,090 year-ago.

The rise in big-trucks was led by Class 8 as deliveries for October rose 13.6% to 2,916 units. Daimler’s Freightliner and Western Star brands posted a 53.1% and 7.7% increase, respectively, driving overall Daimler gains to 39.6%. The only brands to lose ground were Mack, down 27.0%, and International, down 5.9%. Year-to-date heavy-truck sales now stand at 23,976 units, 4.5% ahead of year-ago.

In the medium-duty segment, sales increased 6.1% as solid gains in Classes 5 through 7 were enough to overcome losses in Class 4. Overall medium-duty deliveries through 10 months are up slightly to 11,456 units, 2.7% above 2013’s total.

Class 7 sales were up 6.0% over 2013 to 369 units. Freightliner reported the strongest results, up 74.5% while class leader International dipped 12.2%.

Ford led Class 6 by posting a 150.0% rise and lifting overall Class 6 deliveries 22.2%, making it the best performing sector in October. Hino also posted a solid gain, up 75.0% followed by class leader International, up 45.1%. Peterbilt and Freightliner were the only companies to post losses, down 91.7% and 32.0%, respectively.

Class 5 deliveries were up a modest 5.4% to 526 units on mixed results. Isuzu led the group, posting a 61.9% increase, while Hino was up 34.2%. Ford dipped 8.0% losing nearly 5 percentage points to 35.2% market share.

Class 4 was the only group to post a loss in October, losing 7.3% to 114 units. A triple-digit gain recorded by Isuzu import models was not enough to overcome double-digit losses by all other sellers in the class.

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