Equipment

U.S., Canada heavy truck sales down

June 15, 2016

Sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks in the U.S. totaled 34,180 units in May, 0.5% below year-ago on a daily sales basis, according to WardsAuto data.

Sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks in the U.S. totaled 34,180 units in May, 0.5% below year-ago on a daily sales basis, according to WardsAuto data.According to the report, Class 8 dropped 12.8% to 17,312 units. Volvo brand posted the greatest drop in the group, falling 31.3%, while its sister brand, Mack, slipped 9.7%. International also took as sharp decline of 21.4%. Western Star was the only gainer, up 28.3% on relatively small volume. Year-to-date, Class 8 sales were down 12.3% from like-2015.Medium-duty sales fared better as all classes surpassed year-ago’s daily selling rate. Overall, the group was up 16.2%, with monthly volume at 16,868. For January-May, sales were 16.6% above prior-year.In Canada, big-truck deliveries were down 1.8% on a daily sales basis in May with 3,797 units sold, compared with 4,190 from prior-year, WardsAuto reports.Sales in Class 8 fell 4.1% to 2,342 units. Daimler’s Freightliner and Western Star were only the brands above year-ago, up 34.0% and 34.7% respectively. The remaining truck makers posted double-digit declines. Over the first five months of this year, heavy-truck sales were 21.8% below like-2015.Medium-duty orders came to 1,455 units, 2.2% greater than year-ago. Year-to-date, sales were up 1.0%.