July Medium-Duty Sales Clear 19,000
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Medium-duty sales in July rose 6.5% to just above 19,000, with the Class 7 segment hitting its peak for the year so far, WardsAuto.com reported.
Total sales in Classes 4-7 reached 19,082 compared with 17,911 a year earlier, according to Wards. Class 7 volume hit 4,490, which was the most in that segment this year.
Class 6 sales of 4,385 were the second-lowest so far in 2021, and only slightly higher than April’s 4,286.
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Classes 4-5 sales of 10,207 were that segment’s third-lowest of the year, ahead only of January’s 8,523 and February’s 8,316.
Across all medium-duty classes, year-to-date sales climbed 18.9% to 139,343 compared with the 2020 period. Class 8 year-to-date sales are at 128,376 for 2021.
“We tend to be doing a little bit better on the medium-duty side [compared with Class 8 sales],” ACT Research Vice President Steve Tam told Transport Topics. “It’s the heavy truck-centric manufacturers versus the auto-centric truck manufacturers. But the same dynamic is happening in both of those markets.”
For example, Freightliner, which produces both medium- and heavy-duty trucks, may be shifting available pieces and parts to the bigger trucks — where it is the market leader — and away from the medium-duty trucks where it is able and can, he suggested.
Nonetheless, Freightliner, a unit of Daimler Trucks North America, had the second-highest sales in Classes 6 and 7.
Tam
“Ford, who makes a broad range of trucks is doing the same thing, [shifting from light- to medium-duty trucks],” Tam continued. “So I think the medium-duty market is benefiting from the auto-centric truck OEMs in that perspective, making the medium-duty market a little more stable. It doesn’t seem to be struggling quite as much as Class 8.”
Ford Motor Co. led in Class 6 with 1,567 sales, good for a 35.7% share, and it continued to dominate in Class 5, where it sold 4,161 trucks, or 56.8% of the total.
In Class 4, Isuzu Commercial Truck of America had the largest market share, 36.3%, on sales of 1,049.
International, a brand of Navistar Inc., led in Class 7 with 1,714, good for a 38.1% share.
Meanwhile, Kenworth Truck Co. announced its TruckTech+ remote diagnostics system is now available as an option for its new medium-duty conventional models.
Kenworth, a unit of Paccar Inc., sold 354 trucks in Class 7 and 281 in Class 6 in July.
Fleets and truck operators may specify and buy a 24-month Kenworth TruckTech+ remote diagnostics subscription when purchasing new Kenworth T180, T280, T380 and T480 models equipped with the Paccar PX-7 and Paccar PX-9 engine. The T280, T380 and T480 also offer the system when specified with a Cummins Westport L9N natural gas engine. according to the Kirkland, Wash.-based company.
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