U.S. Big-Trucks Down 5.9% in October

U.S. sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks fell 5.9% on a daily sales rate in October compared with year-ago, to 38,372 units, WardsAuto data shows.

The drop primarily came from Class 8 with 19,252 deliveries, 15.7% below prior-year. The only brand with a positive result was Western Star with an 8.3% gain but only 2.0% share of the group. Its sister brand and Class 8 leader, Freightliner, posted a 5.0% decline, leaving Daimler down 4.4%. International (-40.9%), Peterbilt (-30.7%) and Mack (-21.9%) saw big double-digit drops.

Overall medium-duty deliveries in October were up 6.7% vs. like-2014 on 19,120 units.

Class 7 posted a 6.5% gain with sales of 5,282 units. Ford saw the only decline, dipping 38.1% and losing share to 2.4% from 4.2% last year. PACCAR’s Kenworth and Peterbilt brands had the largest sales gains, up 16.8% and 13.5%, respectively. Freightliner boosted sales 8.2% and maintained its strong share lead with a 48.4% take.

Class 6 was the top performer with a 16.4% jump to 5,566 deliveries. Peterbilt was the only brand in the red, down 43.1%, but accounted for only 0.4% of the segment. Kenworth reversed the negative impact on PACCAR’s total, gaining 51.9% and bringing the parent company’s sales up 29.5% overall. Freightliner sold 2,135 trucks in this weight group, a best-ever October result and second-best of any month.

Class 5 deliveries reached 7,188 units, just 1.8% above like-2014, but a record high for any month in WardsAuto history. Ford’s 70.3% share, a 20-month high, allowed its positive results to outweigh losses by most truck makers in the group. Ford sold 5,055 Class-5 trucks, up 26.8%. FCA dipped 37.9%, losing share from 28.5% in October 2014 to 17.4% in the current month. Freightliner (-45.0%), Mitsubishi Fuso (-45.5%) and International (-29.6%) had relatively big losses, but on small volume.

Class 4 was the only segment to come in below year-ago. Deliveries totaled 1,084 units, down 2.9%. Isuzu was the main downward force, as its domestic lineup slipped 10.7% and imports fell 17.2%. Ford saw big gains in this segment, growing 21.1%.

Class 8 inventory at the end of October hit 57,804, resulting in 84 days’ supply, up considerably from last year’s 53. Medium-duty truck makers ended the month with 57,669 units in stock, also an 84 days’ supply, well above like-2014’s 73. Big-truck sales are expected to recover in the next couple months as the manufacturers clear out this excess inventory.

The national average diesel price was $2.519 in October, up 0.6% from the previous month, thus ending a 6-month streak of declines. Gasoline prices, however, were 3.0% below prior-month at $2.387.

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