WardsAuto: June sees U.S. Class 4-8 truck sales slow

U.S. sales of Class 4-7 medium- and heavy-duty trucks increased just 6.3% in June—marking the smallest monthly rise since December 2010, per a news story posted on WardsAuto.com.

“Class 4’s loss of almost 50% was the biggest culprit in the June slowdown,” pointed out WardsAuto reporter Christie Schweinsberg . “Class 6 also fell below year-ago, while the remaining classes saw more modest increases than those of recent months.”

Class 4 sales fell 47.5% -- led by a 99.1% drop at Ford; a 58.6% fall at Daimler; and a 52.5% drop in imported Isuzus. However, Isuzu’s domestically built models posted Class 4’s biggest gain-- climbing 306.4%.

Class 5 sales were up 18.6%, marking the best performance of any the medium/heavy GVW classes. This gain was driven by a massive 776.8% climb by Freightliner, which in June sold 173 trucks vs. 19 in like-2011. Daimler also recorded a triple-digit increase, while Paccar incurred the largest slip, down 88.0%.

The Class 6 sales decrease of 22.4% was the second-biggest June loss in the medium/heavy-truck sector. It was “precipitated by falloffs at the volume manufacturers,” noted Schweinsberg. “Ford sales tumbled 79.5%, Daimler slid 20.6% and International, Class 6’s volume leader, slipped 3.6%. Paccar’s Kenworth surged 59.7%, the best performance in Class 6 last month.”

Class 7 realized a 12.2% sales hike. Most Class 6 manufacturers saw increases, but “declines at the high-volume manufacturers, such as Ford and International, tempered growth at Paccar and Daimler, both up more than 30%.”

Class 8 deliveries rose 14.9% compared with a year ago. The only decline amongheavy0duty makes was at International, down 12.2%. The 29.4% jump in Freightliner sales was Class 8’s biggest year-on-year increase with Mack Trucks, up 27.5%, close behind.

Through 2012’s first half, Schweinsberg  added, sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks in the U.S. ran 25.4% ahead of like-2011, recording 173,723 units.