U.S. truck sales boomed in 2011, led by a 60% jump in Class 8 sales, according to data compiled by WardsAuto.com. Total Class 4 to 8 sales also climbed, rising 40.6% over 2010’s figures.
Total Class 8 sales rose sharply, going year-over-year from 107,152 to 171,358 power units. Every OEM in Class 8 posted substantial gains in 2011 over the year before.
Sales for Daimler Trucks North America’s (DTNA) Freightliner operation climbed 50.6%, from 34,708 to 52,276 units, while DTNA’s Western Star jumped 78.5%, going from 1,171 to 2,090 units.
Navistar’s International Trucks saw a 33.4% hike, going from 26,939 to 35,928 units. Paccar’s Kenworth Truck Co.’s Class 8 sales leaped by 94.3%, from 11,621 to 22,577 units, while its sister OEM Peterbilt Motors enjoyed an 89.4% hike, going from 12,980 to 24,583 units.
Also in Class 8, Mack was up 40.4%, from 9,209 to 12,928 while Volvo Trucks North America, its sister OEM in the Volvo Group, soared a remarkable 108.8%, going from 10,036 to 20,955 units.
Class 7’s sales gains were weaker, coming in at 7.5% higher than 2010—moving up from 38,350 to 41,212 units. Peterbilt was the big winner in Class 7, rising 48.1% from 1,989 to 2,945 units. Also pulling well in Class 7 was Ford with a 39.1% gain and Kenworth with a 24.9% increase.
The biggest losers in Class 7 were GM, which incurred a 99.8% nosedive, followed by Isuzu, which was down by 85.7%, and Mitsubishi Fuso, which dropped 62.3%
Class 6 sales were up a stunning 39.6%, from 29,143 to 40,677. The big winner here was Freightliner, which realized a whopping gain of over 125%, going from 6,108 to 13,757. Hino was up 70%, going from 2,325 to 3,952. Also up markedly was Kenworth at 56.8% while sister OEM Peterbilt was only up 5%. Players in the negative column were Mitsubishi Fuso, down 67.7%, and GM, down 96.2%.
And while total Class 5 sales were up 37.1%, going from 30,976 to 42,483 units, total Class 4 sales fell in negative territory, down 13.4%, falling from 12,081 to 10,459 units.
