U.S. Big Trucks Start Year Off With Gain

Medium- and heavy-duty trucks in the U.S. continued their steady pace in January and run of year-over-year gains, posting a 12.2% rise, WardsAuto data shows.

Big-truck makers delivered 30,689 units during the month, compared with 26,296 in the prior year. As was the case throughout most of 2014, the heavy-duty segment fueled the gain, while other classes saw modest increases.

Class 8 deliveries jumped 18.1% in January on sales of 17,373 units vs. 14,146 year-ago. All manufacturers enjoyed gains except for International, which plummeted 19.4%. Daimler brands Western Star and Freightliner led the segment, recording increases of 69.8% and 39.1%, respectively. PACCAR’s Kenworth brand saw sales jump 22.2% while Peterbilt improved 15.0%.

Class 7 posted an 8.8% rise on unit sales of 4,377 against 3,868 in prior-period. Kenworth led the group, surging 53.0% on sales of 401 units, while International was second-best, rising 46.4%. Segment leader Freightliner fell 10.1% on volume of 1,942, losing nearly 10 percentage points of market share to 44.4%. Hino recorded the worst performance in the segment, falling 31.0% to only 84 units.

Class 6 was the only class to report a loss for the month, down a slight 1.9% on deliveries of 3,966 against 3,888 in prior-period. Gains by small-volume sellers Kenworth (+24.3%) and Hino (+17.7%) were offset by a double-digit loss posted by Ford (-24.2%). Share leader Freightliner reported a solid gain of 8.3%, growing its stake to 37.6%. 

In Class 5, deliveries rose 6.3% to 4,344 units on mixed results.  Ford continued its dominance with a 9.3% uptick, good for a 66.5% share of the segment. FCA sales nearly doubled, up 91.9% to 872 units from 437 a year ago. Freightliner saw the largest decline, with sales sinking 79.2% on volume of only 82 units from 379 in January 2014.

Class 4 was the best-performing group for the month, jumping 30.3% on 629 deliveries. Isuzu domestic trucks, new to the market in 2014, reported 268 sales for a 42.6% share of the segment, and overtaking Ford as the class leader. Ford sales dropped 26.2% to only 139 units.

Class 8 inventory rose last month to 40,839 units and was nearly 8,000 units ahead of last year’s 32,911. January days’ supply was 61, up from 58 in like-2014. Medium-duty truck makers ended the month with 46,629 units in inventory, a 91-day supply. That compares with 40,551 and 83 days’ in like-2014.

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