U.S. Big Trucks Post Strong Month in October

October was another strong month for U.S. medium- and heavy-duty trucks as sales rose 13.2% over year-ago, the best month since March 2007, due to solid performances in weight classes 4 through 8.

Led by Volvo’s Mack brand, which enjoyed a 23.6% increase, Class 8 was up 11.3% year-over-year on sales of 17,985 units as all players posted solid gains.

PACCAR’s Peterbilt saw sales rise 21.3% and International, which normally enjoys a strong October due to its fiscal year-end, was up 10.3%.

Class 8 volume leader Daimler saw its Freightliner and Western Star brands up a modest 7.5% and 4.3%, respectively.

Despite impressive sales results over the past two months, year-to-date Class 8 deliveries still trailed 2012 by 7.2%, 150,578 vs. 162,215.

The industry, however, is forecasting a strong fourth quarter as orders have edged up and the year is looking to finish at about 185,000 units.

Segment leader Freightliner increased its share to 37.1%, up from 32.8%, mostly at the expense of International, which has seen its share drop 3.7 percentage points to 14.9%.

Class 7 was the second-best performing segment in October, up 24.2% to 5,030 units. Freightliner was the class leader with sales soaring 49.9% as it commanded over half of the segment with a 53.4% market share.

PACCAR’s Kenworth brand was up 16.8% and Peterbilt improved 32.4%. The only decliners for the month were Hino (-11.6%) and Ford (-0.5%) on low volume.

October Class 6 deliveries were almost flat over last year, up a meager 1.2%. Second-place Ford, up a whopping 267.7%, closed the gap on class leader Freightliner, which saw sales slip 19.0%.

Gainers in Class 6 included Kenworth, up 39.7% and Peterbilt, up 48.8%.

Overall Class 5 sales rose 13.0% to 5,882 units from 2012’s 5,013. Class leader Ford, with a 58.4% market share, was down 6.7%. Second-place Chrysler, paced by sales of the Dodge Ram chassis cab, was up 50.4% on deliveries of 1,287 units.

Class 4 sales growth led all groups, as deliveries for the segment jumped 51.2%. Isuzu led the way with an increase of 238.6% on sales of its new domestically assembled walk-in van. Mitsubishi Fuso was the only decliner as sales dipped 3.7% on light volume.

Class 8 days’ supply ended October at 52, down from 65 year-ago, while stock fell to 34,965units from 38,771. Medium-duty days’ supply was 72, compared with 79 at the end of October 2012. Medium-duty units in inventory rose slightly to 42,058 from 40,107.

In other big-truck news:

[email protected]