U.S. Class 8 Trucks Yet to See Year-Over-Year Growth in 2017

U.S. Classes 4-8 truck sales finally saw year-over-year growth in 2017 with 37,660 units in June compared to 2016’s 35,723. Unfortunately Class 8 recorded yet another drop last month, down to 17,310 units, 5.7% below same-period 2016.

Volume leader Freightliner dropped 6.1% to 6,313 units in June. Sister brand Western Star outdid last year, rising 23.6% in sales. The mixed results left parent company Daimler with a 4.2% hit. PACCAR’s Kenworth dipped 7.7%, but Peterbilt’s 19.2% left the company with a 4.7% gain. Both Mack and Volvo Truck fell significantly, resulting in a 24.9% plummet for the Volvo Truck group. International was one of few to have a good month, documenting a 10.2% gain. With large hits to several companies, Class 8 trailed 19.0% behind like-2016 with 84,331 deliveries.

Classes 4-7, however, saw a 17.2% increase in June. Year-to-date, medium-duty truck sales were outperforming last year by 3.8% with 108,747 units.

Class 7 had a modest gain of 0.3% with mixed results. Freightliner (-1.2%) and International (+6.4%) consume much of the group with 76.7% market share between the two. Ford grew 41.5% and acquired nearly a percentage point in market share with its smaller volume. Hino and Kenworth also saw some growth in sales, 7.4% and 0.7%, respectively. Peterbilt couldn’t hit last June’s numbers and fell 23.2%.

Similar results were seen in Class 6, a 2.0% fall with varying results. Group leader Ford inched up 2.8% to 1,680 units. International grew 15.0% to 1,080 units, while Freightliner plunged 23.7% to 1,258. Hino rose 11.8%, and Kenworth dropped 12.0%.

Triple-digit gains from Daimler and hefty increases from FCA and Ford left Class 5 with a 36.8% surge and 7,926 deliveries. Daimler ended the month with 418 units, 125.9% above like-2016. FCA (+62.0%) and Ford (+26.5%) dominated the group, acquiring 81.9% of market share with their high-volume gains. Hino and Isuzu also performed well with gains of 35.5% and 35.0%, respectively. International (-81.3%) and PACCAR (-80.0%) came in under last year with large losses.

Sales in Class 4 totaled 2,153 with gains recorded by every manufacturer. Similarly to Class 5, Daimler had the best growth in the group, soaring 325.0% to 119 units above last year’s 28. Isuzu’s domestics and imports outdid last year, rising 54.3% and 67.2%, respectively. Hino hit triple digits last month with 144 units compared to 2016’s 59.

Over the first six months of 2017, U.S. medium- and heavy-duty truck sales were 7.6% behind last year’s, totaling 193,078.

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