U.S. Sales of Medium, Heavy Trucks Rise 16.2%

U.S. sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks continued their streak, rising 16.2% in October, the 14th month in a row that big trucks posted a year-over-year increase, WardsAuto data shows.

Volume totaled 39,311 units, up from 33,817 year-ago, and pushed year-to-date 2014 sales to 334,674 units, 16.1% ahead of like-2013’s 288,205.

Class 8 sales rose 22.5% on volume of 22,032, the highest monthly total since December 2006 and the second month in a row the segment has topped 20,000 units. Kenworth led all manufacturers, reporting a gain of 32.0% on volume of 3,048 units. Volume leader Freightliner continued to gain market share, rising 28.8% over year-ago, good for 37.0% of the Class 8 market. Mack was the only brand to lose ground, dropping a slight 1.2%.

Through the first 10 months, Class 8 sales totaled 180,320, up 19.8% from like-2013’s 150,578 units and on pace to make it the best year for heavy trucks since the record was set in 2006.

Double-digit gains in Classes 5 and 6 offset losses in 4 and 7 as medium-duty demand cooled slightly. The medium-duty segments still were up a solid 9.1% in the month to 17,279 units, from 15,832 in October 2013.

Class 7 sales slid 5.0% vs. year-ago as segment leader Freightliner posted a 15.2% decline and Ford fell 19.6%. Hino was the best performer in the class with deliveries jumping 28.4% on small volume. Kenworth sales rose 13.4%.

Class 6 recorded the best performance of any weight group, up 25.2% on unit volume of 4,611 vs. 3,684 year-ago. The segment was led by Peterbilt, up triple-digits to 129.4%. Class volume leader Freightliner also had a robust month, posting the second-best result with a gain of 46.9% and raising its share over six percentage points to 37.4%. Kenworth and International were the only manufacturers to lose ground, down 3.8% and 0.1%, respectively.

A 51% rise posted by Chrysler on sales of its Dodge Ram Chassis Cab lifted overall Class 5 deliveries 15.8% to 6,811 units. Daimler brands Freightliner (-46.6%) and Mitsubishi Fuso (-54.9%) were the biggest losers in the class.  

Class 4 suffered the worst performance in October as sales fell 12.9% to 1,076 units. Isuzu import models improved 19.9%, while its domestic models fell 30.6%. Ford deliveries declined 21.9% along with Mitsubishi Fuso, down 7.1%.

Class 8 inventory continued to rise, up more than 8,000 units to 42,991 from 34,965 year-ago. Days’ supply was 53 in the current period, up from 52 in October 2013. Medium-duty truck makers ended September with 46,898 units in inventory, a 73-day supply. That compared with 42,058 and 72 days’ in like-2013.

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