Class 8 Truck Sales Rise 29.5% in April

This story appears in the May 17 print edition of Transport Topics.

Heavy-duty U.S. truck sales grew by 29.5% last month, the fourth straight month of expansion, compared with the weak results of April 2009, WardsAuto.com reported.

Original equipment manufacturers and their dealers sold 8,627 heavy trucks in April, up from 6,664 a year ago. In total, sales for the first four months were 32,466 units, an increase of 13.9% compared with 28,496 during the same period of 2009.

Orders for new trucks also are increasing, with Navistar Inc. unveiling the largest deal so far this year — at least 5,000 trucks over five years for J.B. Hunt Transport Services. The contract is Navistar’s first major agreement with Hunt since 1997, the OEM said.

As for current sales, though, Navistar’s International brand finished second to Daimler Trucks North America, for both the month and the year to date.

Freightliner, DTNA’s flagship brand, sold 2,762 heavy trucks, 78.1% more than in April 2009. Freightliner’s year-to-date Class 8 sales were 10,896 units, an increase of 37.4%. Freightliner’s four-month market share is 33.6% of the heavy-duty U.S. market.

“We see a lot of positive movement in both our medium-duty and Class 8 segments, as evidenced by our order intake to-date of 11,000 SCR-equipped units,” said Mark Lampert, DTNA senior vice president for sales and marketing. “We are confident that we will continue to have a strong presence as activity with both of these segments increases.”

Freightliner and most other U.S. truck makers are using selective catalytic reduction, or SCR, to meet tighter 2010 federal diesel emissions standards. Navistar stands alone in using a third generation of exhaust gas recirculation technology to meet the government’s requirements.

Navistar sold 2,519 Class 8 Internationals during the month, a 26.8% increase over the 1,987 sold last April. Cumulative sales have risen 7.1% to 8,649 units. The company‘s market share is 26.6% so far this year.

The changeover in engines has affected the cycle of sales, said Jay Ellison, president of French-Ellison Truck Center, San Antonio, which sells Kenworth and Mack trucks at four locations in Texas.

“Our sales are up year-to-date from last year, but April was not very good,” Ellison said. “We were in a lull between the pre-emissions and post-emissions engines. We’re just starting to see orders come in for trucks with the new engines.”

Ellison sold almost all of his trucks that had 2009 engines by February or March, he said, and his customers are wary of the new engines because of their higher price — usually around $9,000 a truck.

Some of Ellison’s regular customers instead bought used vehicles for a while, he said, but the best used vehicles are disappearing quickly. He also said truckload carriers and private fleets are doing the most shopping now, whereas construction, oil field and refuse truck buyers are quiet.

The two brands of Paccar Inc. took third and fourth places in monthly sales. Peterbilt Motors sold 1,106 trucks, or 37.9% more than the 802 it sold a year ago. The four-month increase was 25.3% to 4,055.

Kenworth Trucks sold 810 Class 8s, a 7.7% increase over the 752 units the previous April. Its cumulative sales rose 0.8% to 3,127 vehicles.

Volvo AB also has two OEMs, which took fifth and sixth places. Mack sold 669 big trucks during the month, a 2.6% increase from 652 a year ago. Year-to-date sales are up 35.7% to 2,580 units.

Volvo Trucks North America has fared less well. Monthly sales dipped 2.6% to 602 big trucks from 618 a year ago. Cumulative sales this year are up 4.2% to 2,649 units.

Daimler’s two smaller brands rounded out the sales list. Discontinued Sterling sold off 81 more vehicles from its inventory, a 66.7% decrease from the 243 sold in April 2009 — the month after it ceased new production. Cumulative sales fell 82.7% to 248 units.

Western Star sold 76 heavy trucks, or one-third more than the 57 it sold the previous April. Its four-month volume dipped 4.1% to 256 units.

Trucking company Hunt declined to discuss its deal with Navistar, but the Lowell, Ark., carrier had 9,263 tractors as of March 31 and operates in three types of business: intermodal, dedicated contract carriage and general truckload.

Other major deals for 2010 trucks include Penske Truck Leasing’s plans to buy 750 Freightliners and 600 Volvos and Knight Transportation’s agreement to buy 370 Volvos.

Two of the industry’s market research firms also commented about orders.

ACT Research Co. said May 11 in a revised estimate that North American Class 8 truck orders should increase this year by 19% over 2009 levels and that 2011 orders should be 67% larger than this year. Both of those predictions are higher than the company’s earlier estimates.

CK Commercial Vehicle Research said its fleet sentiment buying index improved by 18% in the second quarter from the first quarter. The index measures planned buying behavior for tractors, trailers and straight trucks.