U.S. big truck sales plunge in November

Heavy-duty truck sales in the U.S. totaled 29,754 units in November, 22.4% below like-2015’s 35,279, according to WardsAuto data. Canada’s big-truck makers declined again, posting a combined Class 4-8 sales drop of 12.5% on 2,830 deliveries.

Wards reports Class 8 sales were off 33.2% from year-ago on 13,943 deliveries. PACCAR’s Kenworth plummeted 32.3% from prior-year, while Peterbilt was the only one up with a 2.2% increase on 2,062 units. In this class, Freightliner posted the weakest results, dropping 44.7% from prior-year. Mack (-31.5%) and Volvo (-39.1%) also didn’t do well. Year-to-date, Class 8 sales are down 22.4% from like-2015.

Overall, medium-duty sales fell 9.5% with monthly volume at 15,811. For January-November, sales are running 4.1% above prior-year.

In Canada, Class 8 sales fell the most, down 20.4% from year-ago, according to Wards. All truck makers in this group saw big declines. Mack (-51.2%) and Volvo (-37.7%) suffered the biggest drops in the group. Kenworth and Peterbilt posted losses of 18.4% and 11.6%, respectively. Freightliner was the group leader, declining only 9% from like-2015.

In the medium-duty segment, sales rose 9.9% to 931 units from 782 in the same-month 2015. A large double-digit gain in Class 7 offset the loss in smaller-volume Class 4.

WardsAuto has more.