Big Rebound for Big Trucks in Canada in July

Canada’s big-truck market rebounds from a so-so June, posting a combined Class 4-8 sales rise of 26.9% in July on the strength of demand in the heavy-duty sector.

Class 8 deliveries jumped 42.4% on a daily basis last month to 2,502 vehicles, a turnaround from the 2.2% decline recorded in June.

There were no real weak spots among the brands, with the 17.2% gain at Kenworth the smallest increase. Western Star’s 90.3% spike was the sector’s biggest.

By company, Daimler’s 55.5% increase led all others in Class 8, while Volvo Truck posted a 48.3% gain and PACCAR finished July 33.2% ahead of year-ago.

The medium-duty sector was flat, gaining less than a percentage point on a volume of 1,025 units.

Class 5 sales were the strongest, up 9.4% to 494 units. Combined with a 3.4% gain for Class 4, that was good enough to offset declines in Class 6 (18.2%) and Class 7 (4.9%) deliveries.

July’s performance ratcheted up overall big-truck year-to-date sales to 26,347 units, a 29.6% rise from like-2011.

Class 8 sales totaled 18,115 through the first seven months, up 37.3%. In the medium-duty, only Class 6, off 5.3%, was down from its like-2011 pace.

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