According to WardsAuto.com, Ward’s own data shows that “a 2.6% uptick in December helped boost U.S. sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks to a 9% full-year gain over 2009.”
What Ward’s describes as “big-truck sales (Class 4-8 GVW) for 2010 totaled 217,702 units, compared with the prior year’s 199,686 tally.
But “putting the jump in clearer perspective,” Ward’s Christie Schweinsberg stated in her report that 2008’s total was 298,424.
For the year, Class 8 outpaced 2009 by 13%, led by a 65.4% jump by Western Star.
Class 7 lost 1.9% of its 2009 volume, “thanks to an 86.2% decline at Daimler’s Sterling brand and a 78.8% plunge in General Motors Co. sales. Both are exiting the medium-duty market,” noted Schweinsberg.
Class 6 for the year was the hottest sector, “soaring 32.5% from 2009 levels.”
Class 5’s 51.9% jump was December’s biggest percentage-based improvement, and was “powered by a 261.6% gain by Daimler’s Freightliner brand.”
Class 4 incurred the biggest loss in December and for the year, dropping 65% and 39.2%, respectively.
Schweinsberg also reported that Class 8 “closed out 2010 with a 49 days’ supply as of Dec. 31, or 21,412 units, down from 53 days in like-2009, or 21,735 units. Medium-duty stocks also dropped, going from a 57 days’ supply at month’s end, or 23,283 units, compared with 68 days or 27,931 in December last year.”
