Class 8 Truck Sales End Nearly a Year of Declines

Freightliner had the largest market share with 7,562 trucks sold, accounting for 35.3% of all sales for the month. (Freightliner)

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U.S. Class 8 retail sales ended 11 consecutive months of year-over-year declines with a small uptick in July, according to data from Wards Intelligence.

Truck sales for the month inched up 1.8% to 21,398 units from 21,021 last year. They also increased 18% from 18,134 units reported the previous month. Year-to-date sales are down 14% to 134,920 units from 156,821. The last year-over-year increase was in July 2023.

“A lot of this goes back to the running underlying theme,” ACT Research Vice President Steve Tam said. “The industry has been challenged to produce and deliver units. I think some of those factors, some of the challenges, they were able to get some solutions.”

Tam is encouraged by the sales figures but noted actual demand hasn’t changed much. He views a lot of this demand as still being from carriers trying to stay on their replacement cycle and the still-lingering orders on backlog. The parts shortage has improved over the past couple of years, but there still are some trucks that lack critical components.

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Tam 

“If I look back on last month, the month before, our expectations for retail sales have not changed,” Tam said. “And to me, retail sales is the final arbiter of demand. Production can go up or down for a lot of different reasons, but making the customer happy is, to me, the key measure.

“And so, our expectations, again, from a demand perspective, are that things really have not changed. It’s just finally the realization of some of that demand that you’re seeing manifest in these numbers.”

Tam also pointed out that these figures would put sales 1.5% below average for July. Because of that, the nominal number gets a small boost when adjusted for seasonal factors. He noted this puts the number above expectations but not enough to change his forecast.

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The data showed that only two of the seven major brands saw lower sales from last year. Freightliner, a brand of Daimler Truck North America, received the largest market share with 7,562 trucks, accounting for 35.3% of all sales for the month, but volume declined 0.6% from 7,610 the prior year. Western Star, also a DTNA brand, saw the largest year-over-year percentage increase, with sales up 30% to 885 units from 681.

“The latest sales data demonstrates a movement to market normalization as we continue to navigate through the aftermath of an elevated market,” said David Carson, senior vice president of sales and marketing at DTNA. “As anticipated, sales impacted from mirror supply disruptions are moving through the pipeline. Heavy vocational continues to benefit from the injection of spending from construction segments and replacement of old inventory.”

Mack Trucks sales increased 8.3% to 1,480 units from 1,366 reported during the year-ago period. Volvo Trucks North America sales increased 10% to 2,139 units from 1,944. Mack and VTNA are brands of Volvo Group.

“July’s Class 8 truck sales showed encouraging growth, with a 15.4% increase from June and a slight uptick from last year,” said Jonathan Randall, president of Mack Trucks North America. “While we’re navigating challenges in the freight market, the vocational sector remains strong, driven by robust construction and manufacturing activity.

“These mixed conditions showcase our industry’s resilience. We’re optimistic about the heavy-duty truck market’s long-term prospects and remain committed to supporting our customers with innovative solutions.”

Navistar’s International brand decreased 24.6% in sales to 2,290 units from 3,039.

Peterbilt Motors Co. sales increased 6.3% to 3,534 units from 3,325, and Kenworth Truck Co. saw sales rise 15.3% to 3,490 from 3,026. Peterbilt and Kenworth are Paccar Inc. brands.

Commercial Truck Trader reported that buyer interest in its truck listings has grown significantly over the past couple of months. The online marketplace for new and used commercial vehicles tracks interest by calculating page views across vehicle categories.

“This gives us accurate insight into demand by category, make, model and condition,” said Charles Bowles, director of OEM and strategic partnerships at Commercial Truck Trader. “We saw a significant rise in buyer interest from June to July for both Class 8 sleepers and day cabs. However, we’re seeing supply substantially outpace demand across all classes of vehicles as inventory continues to build on dealer lots.”

Bowles expects to see some fluctuations in used unit valuations as these trends play out. He also noted interest jumping for new sleepers in recent months was surprising given the relatively low cost of many used units.