Sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks in the U.S. totaled 40,323 in March, 2.5% below year-ago on a daily sales basis, according to WardsAuto data. In Canada, big-truck deliveries were down 26.7% on a daily sales basis in March with 3,275 units, compared with 4,294 from prior-year, WardsAuto reports.
In the U.S., class 8 posted sales of 20,034 units, down 10.1% from prior-year, Wards Auto said. Substantial losses by International (-29.1%), Peterbilt (-22.8%) and Volvo (-52.7%) led the decliners. Daimler’s Freightliner and Western Star outsold last year, leaving the parent company up 16.5%. Mack posted a small gain, growing 1.3%. Year-to-date, Class 8 sales were down 7.1% from like-2015.
Overall medium-duty sales fared better, rising 6.3% to 20,289 units last month. For first-quarter 2016, sales were 20.4% above year-ago.
Class 7 showed the only downturn from prior-year as deliveries slipped 1.1% to 5,126 trucks. Results were mixed, with double-digit declines by Ford (-63.8%) and International (-14.3%) and double-digit gains by Hino (+35.1%) and Kenworth (+22.0%).
Canadian class 8 sales fell 36.1% to 1,915 units. All manufacturers posted double-digit losses. Share leader Freightliner sales declined 26.1% on 752 units while still increasing share to 39.3%. The worst performers were Volvo, down 62.6%, and Kenworth, 44.9% below prior-year. Western Star showed the smallest drop, 19.6%, but with the smallest volume.
Medium-duty orders totaled 1,360 units, 7.5% less than year-ago.
Class 7 sales totaled 354 units, dropping 19.3%. International posted a 12.9% decline. The biggest decreases came from PACCAR’s Peterbilt (-49.1%) and Kenworth (-37.4%), leaving the parent company down 43.7% from March 2015. Hino (+9.2%) and Ford (+37.4) were the only gainers.
