January Truck Sales Rise 5.3%; Analysts See Gains Through ’06

.S. Class 8 trucks sales increased 5.3% in January from year-ago levels, to 19,229 vehicles, the smallest monthly gain since November 2003 and the first time in the past 11 months the total did not break 20,000, according to data from Ward’s Communications.

Transportation analysts said the small increase is the result of comparisons with 2005 — which was the second-strongest ever for truck sales. They said sales would rise through the year as fleets buy 2006 trucks to avoid 2007 models that have been reconfigured to meet more stringent federal emission rules.

The January slowdown in the growth of sales is “really more a function of high year-ago comparisons,” transportation analyst Peter Nesvold of Bear Stearns told Transport Topics. Sales of Class 8 vehicles “will only strengthen from here as the industry marches toward the January 2007 emissions deadline."