U.S. Big-Trucks Up 26.7% in February

U.S. sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks jumped 16.3% in February, the industry’s 18^th consecutive month of year-over-year gains, according to WardsAuto data.

Big-truck makers delivered 30,848 units during the month, compared with 26,525 in the prior year. The heavy-duty segment continued to drive the increase, although all classes enjoyed year-over-year gains.

Class 8 deliveries surged 26.7% on sales of 17,811 units vs. 14,053 year-ago. International was the only company to post a loss, down 6.1%, while nearly all other brands reported double-digit gains. PACCAR’s Kenworth led all gainers with a 56.5% increase with Volvo not far behind, up 49.4%. Through two months, Class 8 was up 24.8% on unit sales of 35,184 against 28,199 from prior-year with the industry expecting 255,000 deliveries for full-year 2015.

Overall medium-duty sales were up a modest 4.5% vs. 2014 with 13,037 units sold in February.

Class 7 posted a 10.9% rise on sales of 3,718 against 3,352 in the prior period. Gains by International (+40.3%), Kenworth (+18.9%) and Peterbilt (+18.1%) were tempered by a 3.1% loss by group leader Freightliner, costing it nearly seven points of market share.

Class 6 was nearly flat for the month. A 55.8% upswing recorded by small-volume player Hino was once again offset by losses at Freightliner, down 24.8% and over 11 percentage points lower than its prior-year share. Ford posted solid results, up 18.6%, while International grew 15.9%.

Deliveries in Class 5 were mixed. Ford slipped 1.6% on sales of 2,949 units, good for a 68.7% share but down slightly from last year’s 72.3% stake. Freightliner posted a 77.3% surge, albeit on small volume of 133 units and FCA sold 653 units, good for a 28.3% sales boost.

Class 4 was led by sales of Isuzu domestic models, up 25.7%, while its imported line was down 19.6%. Ford delivered 206 units, an 18.4% increase over last prior-year deliveries of 174. For the month, Class 4 finished up 3.1% on total units of 822.

Class 8 inventory rose last month to 43,411 units and was nearly 10,000 units ahead of last year’s 33,572 in anticipation of the spring selling season. February’s days’ supply was 58, up from 57 in like-2014. Medium-duty truck makers ended the month with 48,108 units in inventory, an 89-day supply. That compares with 44,458 and 86 days in like-2014.

In other big-truck news: The U.S. Transportation  Dept.’s Freight Transportation Services Index, an indicator  of the amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry, fell 0.2 % in January from December. This was the second consecutive monthly decline but still near its record high level set in November 2014.

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