U.S. sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks remain on a tear, according to WardsAuto. Sales rose 16.2% in October, marking the 14th month in a row the numbers added up to a year-over-year increase.
WardsAuto data shows that U.S. volume totaled 39,311 units, up from 33,817 a year ago, which pushed year-to-date 2014 sales to 334,674 units-- 16.1% ahead of like-2013’s 288,205, per a news story posted by Paul Zajac, industry data manager for Wards' Information Products.
Class 8 sales jumped 22.5% on volume of 22,032. That’s the highest monthly total since December 2006 and the second month in a row the segment topped 20,000 units.
“Double-digit gains in Classes 5 and 6 offset losses in 4 and 7 as medium-duty demand cooled slightly,” Zajac also advised. “The medium-duty segments still were up a solid 9.1% in the month to 17,279 units, from 15,832 in October 2013.” He noted that Class 7 sales dropped 5.0% vs. a year ago while Class 6 “recorded the best performance of any weight group,” coming in 25.2% up on unit volume of 4,611 vs. 3,684 a year ago.
In a separate post, Zajac reported that truck sales for October were up as well in Canada. Sales there climbed 11.3% for the month, which he said was “the best result since June and the highest October total since 2006.”
In Canada, combined medium- and heavy-duty deliveries through ten months were up 3.9% on volume of 35,432 units against 34,090 a year ago.
Zajac pointed out that the rise in Canadian sales were “led by Class 8 as deliveries for October rose 13.6% to 2,916 units.” As for medium-duty, sales increased 6.1% as “solid gains in Classes 5 through 7 were enough to overcome losses in Class 4. Overall medium-duty deliveries through ten months are up slightly to 11,456 units, 2.7% above 2013’s total.”
