U.S. Big-Truck Sales Down 13.7% in September

Sales of U.S. big trucks slipped again in September, 13.7% below last year.

Deliveries of medium- and heavy-duty trucks hit 32,357 during the month compared with 37,514 in the prior year, with losses in classes 4 and 8 outweighing gains in the rest of the segments.

Class 8 continued to be the primary downfall, dropping 28.6% on 14,968 units vs. 20,978 year-ago. Daimler’s Freightliner and Western Star were off 36.1% and 11.2%, respectively. Kenworth (-17.7%) and Peterbilt (-23.5%) brought PACCAR down 20.3%. Through nine months, Class 8 was 21.2% below like-2015 on volume of 149,473 units.

Overall medium-duty sales fell 5.2% on 17,389 units delivered in September. Year-to-date, the group fell 7.7% versus the first nine months of 2015.

Class 7 grew 7.0% with 5,721 units sold. International kept the segment in the positive with a 50.1% gain. Ford also posted growth from year-ago, up 8.7%. Kenworth and Peterbilt came in 19.8% and 20.3% under last year, respectively.

Class 6 demand jumped 14.9% to 4,547 trucks. Ford sales spiked 83.5% to 1,569 units, making it the top-selling brand in September. Runner-up Freightliner posted a 17.7% drop.  International rose 41.6%, while the remaining brands undersold last year.

Class 5 deliveries hit 6,117 units, 1.9% above prior-year. Ford’s volume grew 10.8% with 4,111 deliveries. FCA slipped 17.6%. Hino saw the greatest upswing, rising 15.1%. Isuzu’s sales declined 6.8%.

Class 4 deliveries dropped 18.2% from last year on 1,004 units. Isuzu’s domestic line improved 13.4%, but imports dropped 32.9%. Ford slipped 48.8%. Hino recorded a 247.4% leap from 19 to 66 vehicles.

Sales of Class 4-8 trucks through the first nine months of this year totaled 304,980, 8.7% below same-period 2015.

September ended with 40,414 Class 8 vehicles in stock, resulting in a 68 days’ supply, up from 64 days in like-2015. Medium-duty truck makers ended the month with 55,982 units in inventory and a days’ supply of 80. That compares with 56,175 and 85 days year-ago.

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