U.S. Big Trucks Climb 11.4% in April

U.S. sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks continued their upward trend in April, posting the eighth consecutive monthly year-over-year increase as sales were up 11.4%, WardsAuto data shows. This was the best April since 2006 as all weight classes except Class 7 enjoyed solid gains.

Medium- and heavy–duty trucks were up 13.1% for the first four months on volume of 119,768 units vs. 105,873 from prior-year as fleets continue to replace older trucks and add capacity.

In Class 8, all brands except for Daimler’s Western Star experienced gains as deliveries increased 9.2% to 17,776 units, compared with 15,646 year-ago. Volvo Truck led the group with a 30.0% increase, followed by Mack, up 20.3%. Western Star was the only brand to lose ground as sales slipped 5.7%. Class leader Freightliner sales were relatively flat, up slightly at 0.6% , but share dropped 3 percentage points to 34.5%.

Through the first four months, overall Class 8 sales were up 14.5% on volume of 62,323 units vs. 54,451 in 2013.

In the medium-duty segments, deliveries climbed 13.6%. Class 7 was the only group that declined, posting a 13.1% loss, largely due to segment leader Freightliner with a sales dip of 3.9%. International’s sales plunged 49.7% as its share was nearly cut in half, to 18.5% from 32% in 2013. Ford, up 53.3%, led all gainers in the class while PACCAR’s Kenworth and Peterbilt brands posted gains of 11.6% and 7.5%, respectively.

Ford also posted impressive results in Class 6 with sales growth of 112.1%, increasing its share of the segment from 22.5% last year to 38.0% and overtaking Freightliner as the sales leader. Former class leader Freightliner saw its sales grow 5.6%, although market share slipped as sales were outpaced by Ford, Kenworth and International.

Class 5 was the best performing segment in April, as deliveries soared 28.7% to 6,586 units from 4,921 in April 2013. Freightliner was the best performer in the group, posting a sales rise of 248.6%. Class leader Ford was up 11.8% while Chrysler continued to perform well, up 67.9%. Mitsubishi Fuso was the only decliner in Class 5, down 26.4% on small volume.

Class 4 sales rose 9.3% to 1,156 units, compared with 1,017 in 2013. Class leader Isuzu’s domestic models jumped 42.3% while its import line posted a more modest 5.6% gain.

Class 8 had a 53 days’ supply at the end of April, compared with 55 year-ago. However, inventory rose slightly to 35,980 units from 34,420. There was 70 days’ supply of medium-duty trucks, up from 63 prior-year as the month’s unit inventory rose to 47,077 from 37,394.

In other big-truck news: Navistar has completed its largest one-time sale of International LoneStar trucks to the truckload fleet Celadon Trucking Services. It purchased nearly 500 of on-highway tractors equipped with Cummins ISX15 engines, according to the Illinois-based truck maker. “Celadon is a true partner and this is another example of the confidence the market has in our products,” said Bill Kozek, president- North America Truck and Parts.

Celadon is also one of the fleets using OnCommand Connection, which provides access to real-time fault codes, vehicle locations, nearby dealer locations and fault- code action plans. Today, the company supports nearly 50,000 vehicles through OnCommand Connection, including all makes.

[email protected]