Canada Medium- and Heavy-Duty Trucks Up 17.4% in April

Canada big-truck sales totaled 3,476 units in April, bringing the year-to-date total for combined deliveries to 1.1% above last year at 11,756.

Canada heavy-duty truck sales rose 6.1% compared to like-2016 on 1,920 units. Group leader Freightliner gained 10.3% posting a win 32.7% market share. Sister company Western Star recorded a loss of 3.0% on 186 units, leaving Daimler with a 6.9% growth in April.

International had a good month, up 27.3% on 337 units. Kenworth and Peterbilt also saw large gains of 12.0% and 35.8%, respectively. Mack (-29.6%) and Volvo (-23.9%) underperformed resulting in Volvo Truck dropping 26.0% on a total of 289 units.

Through April, Class 8 sales were 6.4% behind year-ago at 6,814 units.

Classes 4 through 7 sales soared to 1,556 deliveries, 35.1% above year-ago’s 1,244. Year-to-date medium-duty truck sales totaled 4,942 units, 13.6% above like-2016.

Sales in Class 7 were up 13.9% in April with the help of Freightliner, rising 142.6% from 61 to 137 units. Hino increased 35.8% and gained 3.2 percentage points in market share. International, however, dropped 30.7% and lost 18.8 percentage points. Kenworth (-20.2%) and Peterbilt (53.3%) balanced out, resulting in a 9.4% rise for PACCAR.

A 166.8% sales jump by Freightliner led Class 6 to a 45.5% gain for the month, second-best among all segments. Share leader Hino also was up 44.7%. Though on small volume, PACCAR’s Peterbilt brand plummeted 89.2%, from 10 units year-ago to only 1. Compared to 2016, units in April remained unchanged for Ford and International, despite one less selling day in April 2017.

Class 5 sales climbed 43.2% on gains by most manufacturers, led by Ford with deliveries soaring 78.8% compared with like-2016. Other Class 5 truck makers posting positive results were Isuzu, up 47.3% followed by FCA, up 35.3% and Hino, up 6.7%.

Class 4 managed a 56.2% increase over like-2016, the greatest growth of all gross-vehicle-weight classes, with Isuzu’s domestic line skyrocketing 124.6%. That gain helped offset the 55.8% decline in its import sales. Daimler’s Mitsubishi Fuso recorded the largest decline in this class, 73.0% below year-ago, but on small volume. Group leader Ford posted a large gain, up to 66.8% market share from 59.5% last April, a 75.5% leap in volume.

[email protected]