ACT Research Co. LLC has reported a very cheering statiscal mark has been reached by truck OEMs: Class 8 commercial vehicle net orders for North American markets totaled 24,300 in February-- down from January, “but sufficiently higher than production to push the Class 8 heavy-duty backlog volume to just under 100,000 units.” ACT stressed that a year ago, that number stood at just over 44,000 units.
According to the research firm, these latest order numbers are “a reflection of the strength of Class 8 demand as the economy continues to improve.” Indeed, Ken Vieth, ACT sr. partner & GM, pointed out that the “Class 8 orders these past months are being booked at a rate in excess of 300,000 units when annualized.
Vieth noted that the February net-order volume represents a continuation of the order strength demonstrated the last several months of 2010 and is continuing into 2011. “The uptick in orders continues to restock industry backlogs, setting the stage for significant production increases as we move through 2011,” he added.
ACT is a worldwide publisher of new and used commercial vehicle (CV) industry data, market analysis and forecasting services for the North American market as well as the U.S. tractor-trailer market and the China CV market. http://www.actresearch.net
