Sales of used Class 8 vehicles up 55% in August

Reported sales of used Class 8 commercial vehicles were up 55% in August 2010 compared with the prior year on a “same dealer” basis, according to ACT Research Co. In the latest release of the State of the Industry: US Classes 3-8 Used Trucks, ACT further reported that the average price paid for a used Class 8 truck continued to move slightly higher.

“While unit sales are up year-over-year, recent months have seen flat to slightly downward sales volume as dealers have voiced concerns over a shortage of late-model inventory,” said Steve Tam, ACT vice-president–commercial vehicle sector. “As in most cases when supply tightens, prices go up. In August, the average price of a used Class 8 vehicle sold in a retail setting (excludes auctions and wholesale transactions) broke the $40,000 barrier for the first time since February of 2009.”

ACT Used Truck database participants report approximately 2,500 transactions per month. The company is working with used-vehicle market participants to push the number of reported transactions higher. ACT estimates that about 10% of used Class 8 transactions are included in the database.

The report from ACT also provides data on the average used price for the top-selling Class 8 model for each of the major truck OEMs: Freightliner (Daimler); Kenworth and Peterbilt (Paccar); International (Navistar); and Volvo. To subscribe to the full report, go to www.actresearch.net.