Class 8 Sales Stay Strong Through August

This story appears in the Sept. 24 print edition of Transport Topics.

Retail U.S. sales of new Class 8 trucks totaled 16,497 in August, the 32nd straight month of year-over-year growth, WardsAuto.com reported.

Through August, 2012 sales stand at 132,164 trucks, a 32.1% increase from the 100,038 sold during the same period in 2011.

The gain in August was 9.4% above a year ago, ending a streak of 19 straight months of double-digit growth. However, sales in August 2011 were the strongest up to that point in the year.

Daimler Trucks North America’s Freightliner brand was once again the market leader in August, with 5,872 trucks sold, a 31.2% increase over the same month in 2011. Freightliner also maintained its year-to-date lead with 42,323 sales, up 37% from a year ago.

“We believe that our engine strategy and our continuing focus on aerodynamic improvements are key contributing factors,” David Hames, DTNA’s general manager of marketing and strategy, said in a statement.

Looking ahead, he said, “we do expect some decline in industry sales performance in September and October, given the lower order levels we’ve seen in the market over the past five months.”

New truck orders have declined on a year-over-year basis for eight consecutive months, most recently falling 23.4% in August (9-10, p. 1).

Navistar International Corp., maker of International trucks, again placed second in sales for the month and year to date.

Sales declined 10.9% to 3,039 in August but remained 17.6% higher on a year-to-date basis with 25,156 vehicles sold through eight months.

Paccar Inc.’s two brands — Kenworth and Peterbilt — ranked third and fourth, respectively, according to Ward’s data.

Kenworth’s sales edged up 1.7% to 2,074 trucks for August, pushing the company’s year-to-date total 43.7% higher to 18,764 units.

Monthly sales for Peterbilt Motors Co. slipped 10.8% to 2,038 in August, but the brand’s eight-month sales total was 31.7% higher than a year ago, at 18,554.

Mack Trucks had the strongest growth rate, jumping 56.6% to 1,600 trucks. Mack also has the top growth rate for the year to date at 48.1%.

For 2012, Mack sales totaled 11,736, which ranks sixth among the heavy-duty truck brands.

“The primary driver of Mack retail sales in August, and in general, has been positive customer response to our products, service and support,” said John Walsh, Mack’s vice president of marketing.

“We’re particularly encouraged by the uptick in regional and local fleet activity this year. . . . Despite ongoing economic uncertainty, with replacement demand remaining high . . . we still expect this to be a solid year both for the industry and us,” he said.

Mack’s sister company Volvo Trucks saw a 10.1% dip in sales to 1,524 in August. For the year-to-date, however, sales were up 20.9% from a year ago with 13,927 trucks sold through eight months.

Sales of DTNA’s Western Star brand more than doubled from a year ago to 348. The brand has accumulated 1,697 sales so far this year, up 46.8% from the same period in 2011.

Kurt Jorgensen, co-owner of JX Peterbilt, Waukesha, Wis., said August sales at his company were not up to expectations, but quoting activity picked up starting in mid-August.

Jorgensen said JX Peterbilt’s customers are doing well financially, but “they seem to be sitting on cash,” in part due to the upcoming elections.

“I really don’t understand why customers are waiting,” he said. “Now’s the time. The prices aren’t going to get any better, and the show’s going to go on regardless of which political party wins.”

Barney Newman, sales manager at Brattain International Trucks, Portland, Ore., said elections have a psychological effect on truck buyers, who typically wait until it’s over before they take any action.

“I’ve been here 32 years, and it happens this way every election,” he said.

Newman said Class 8 sales at his dealership are “on the rise now, but it’s baby steps.”

Bob Armstrong, sales manager at Kenworth of Dayton, said sales have been slow at the Dayton, Ohio, dealership.

“Right now it is very weak out there,” he said, citing a slowdown in the local economy. “There have been some larger fleets that have updated their equipment, but when you get into the smaller fleets, there just has not been much growth.”

Sales were stronger from September 2011 through March, Armstrong said.

“I was thinking to myself, it feels like we’re back in ’05, ’06 here,” he said, “but once April hit, it was just like someone turned the water faucet off.”

For year-to-date market share, Freightliner leads with 32%, up 1.1 percentage points from the same timeframe last year. Western Star rose 0.1 point to 1.3%.

Together, the two Paccar brands captured 28.2% of the market, with Kenworth adding 1.1 percentage points and Peterbilt losing 0.1 point.