Canada Big Trucks Up 50.4% in October

Double-digit gains across all classes resulted in eight consecutive months of year-over-year gains for Canadian truck makers. Despite having one less selling day this year, sales soared 50.4% in October for medium- and heavy-duty trucks, hitting 4,028 deliveries compared to like-2016’s mere 2,789.

Class 8 sales continued their five-month gaining streak with a 43.1% boost to 2,719 units. Large gains were seen from every single truck maker in the segment with International leading the way with a 62.2% jump in sales. Strong numbers this month leave Class 8 year-to-date sales with a 10.0% lead with 21,146 deliveries compared to 2016’s 19,224.

Medium-duty truck sales flourished 68.3% with large gains from all segments. All classes also lead sales for the year, resulting in a 24.1% gain for the whole group with 13,147 units.

Sales in Class 7 rose 59.1% to 469 deliveries. Peterbilt saw the most improvement, jumping 269.3% from 11 to 39 units. A 45.8% increase for sister brand Kenworth resulted in nearly doubled sales for PACCAR. International’s 73.6% gain pushed it to 55.4% market share, up from 50.8% year-ago. September’s year-to-date total was ahead a mere 0.2%, but with a strong October, the gap widened to 4.4% with 3,987 deliveries.

Class 6 posted the greatest improvement in October with an 81.6% leap in sales to 129 units. International more than doubled its sales from 21 to 49 units.

Ford’s 151.7% hike to 348 units helped Class 5’s sales achieve a 74.8% growth for the month. Isuzu also came in strong with a 70.0% gain on 62 deliveries.

Sales in Class 4 totaled 137 units, up 64.0% from 87 the year before. Ford saw the greatest growth, soaring 91.3% from 49 to 90 units. Isuzu also outperformed year-ago with large gains from both domestics (+36.7%) and imports (+56.3%). Class 4 year-to-date sales had the widest gap of any class through October, ahead 40.8%.

Year-to-date sales totaled 34,293 at the end of October, 15.0% ahead of 2016’s 29,815.

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