U.S. sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks climbed 17.3% last month, scoring the best September since 2006, per a news story posted on posted on WardsAuto.com.
Class 4 through 8 sales combined experienced gains over like-2012, pointed out reporter Paul Zajac , with every manufacturer recording year-over-year sales increases.
“Class 8 led the way, as heavy-truck sales posted a 21% rise in year-over-year sales with deliveries of 16,125 units,” reported Zajac. “Paccar’s Kenworth brand saw September sales rise 49% and Volvo truck brands Volvo and Mack posted increases of 34.7% and 24.7%, respectively. Freightliner’s share of the Class 8 market dipped slightly to 33.8% from last year’s 35.8%, but still remained in a solid position as the sales leader. Kenworth was a distant second with a 16.9% share, while International held 15.5% and Peterbilt was at 11.8%. Volvo rounded out the top five at 11%.”
The report also related that:
- Class 7 sales for the month totaled 3,638 units, 12.5% above year-ago results
- Class6 sales overall were up 27% over September 2012
- Class 5 deliveries ticked up a “modest”1.9%
- Class 4’s 31.2% gain was the month’s best-performing segment
“Despite September’s promising results, year-to-date sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks in the U.S. were off 2.1% from the same period year-ago at 254,004 units,” Zajac observed. “Class 8 sales were down 9.6% at 132,593 units, with the industry forecasting flat results for the rest of 2013. Full-year 2013 sales are expected to drop slightly to 183,000 units, about 6% lower than 2012’s mediocre 194,715 tally.”
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