First-Quarter Used Truck Registrations Rise 4.7% Year-Over-Year
First-quarter used commercial-vehicle registrations rose 4.7% from the same quarter last year, although new registrations fell 4.4%, according to an analysis by R.L. Polk & Co.
Polk identified 171,724 used commercial-vehicle registrations in the quarter. The analysis showed that with the exception of the first quarter of 2011, registrations were the highest for a first quarter since 2005.
Heavy-duty used truck registrations rose by 3% year-over-year to just over 67,000 units, accounting for 39.2% of registrations, the highest percentage among Classes 3-8. The largest percentage increase, 10.5%, was in Class 5 registrations, which rose to just over 8,800.
“This is a significant development for the market in that . . . there is still solid demand for used commercial-vehicle equipment,” said Gary Meteer, Polk’s director of aftermarket and commercial vehicle solutions.
“Since smaller businesses and individual owners are the primary purchasers of used equipment, the strong demand is an indication that these companies are positive and confident about their business, and therefore replacing older equipment or adding vehicles to their fleet,” he said.
Used commercial-vehicle transactions accounted for just over 57.1% of total registrations in the first quarter, while the share of total commercial-vehicle registrations accounted for by used-vehicle transactions continued to decline from a high of 70% in the first quarter of the 2011 calendar year, Polk said.
