July Truck Sales Fall 32.9%
This story appears in the Aug. 24 print edition of Transport Topics.
U.S. Class 8 retail sales fell for the seventh consecutive month — this time by 32.9%, WardsAuto.com reported, and a market forecaster predicted that no substantial change is likely until the second half of next year.
Original equipment manufacturers sold 7,503 trucks in July, compared with 11,174 in July 2008. For the year, sales are down 33.3% to 50,960 vehicles from 76,442 during the comparable time a year ago, according to Ward’s.
All original equipment manufacturers saw their volumes fall at least 20%.
“I think we’ve hit bottom, but we’re only bouncing along the bottom. There’s no real growth,” said Frank Ellett, who sells Daimler Trucks’ three North American brands and Mack Trucks through his Virginia Truck Center locations.
Sales of trucks to food distributors and refuse vehicles are holding up best, Ellett said, “but construction is completely dead. No one’s moving dirt or pouring concrete,” he said of business activity in Virginia.
Ellett added that securing financing is tougher currently than in recent years, and that has kept some interested shoppers from placing orders.
“There are too many trucks out there already; there’s too little freight, and there’s a squeeze on carrier profits — although many truckers have done a good job reining in costs,” said Kenny Vieth, partner and senior analyst at ACT Research Co.
Based on those factors and the tracking of orders for new trucks, Vieth’s firm predicted the commercial vehicle market would stay weak until about mid-2010.
Forecasts for shipping volumes and trucking supply and demand “will be enough to keep many [fleets] on the sidelines for the next several quarters,” in terms of truck buying, Vieth said.
Orders for new North American Class 8s did improve in July, Vieth said, but are still at a poor level. Net orders crashed to a monthly low of 6,600 in February and since then have run between 7,000 and 8,000 until the July reading of 9,200 net orders, he said.
By historical standards, Vieth said, 15,000 orders a month used to be considered low. He said that the improvement in July is welcome but should not be considered a robust level of activity.
Ward’s said that Navistar Inc., maker of International brand trucks, led in sales for the month and also maintained its year-to-date market-share lead, but a company spokes-man said that the overall market is very poor.
“There’s still no improvement in orders. It’s the worst market we’ve seen since 1962,” said Navistar’s Roy Wiley.
Navistar sold 2,158 Class 8s for the month, Ward’s said Aug. 12, down 23.6% from 2,823 in July 2008. Year-to-date, sales were 14,990 units, a 15.2% decline from the year-ago period. Navistar’s seven-month market share of U.S. Class 8 retail sales is 29.4%, an improvement of 6.3 points from last year.
Freightliner Trucks finished second in July, selling 1,688 trucks, a 36.2% decline from 2,644 last July. For the year, Freightliner has sold 13,431 units, 29.5% less than a year ago. The OEM has a 26.4% market share, or 1.5 points more than a year ago.
Freightliner and International are the only two brands to increase market share this year.
The two brands of Paccar Inc. took third and fourth place. Kenworth Trucks sold 1,038 heavy trucks in July, compared with last year’s 1,321, a 21.4% decrease — the smallest percentage change of any OEM. Year-to-date sales were 5,829, a 38.4% drop from last year.
During the month, Peterbilt Mo-tors sold 1,032 Class 8s, a 30.6% falloff from the 1,486 that moved last July. Cumulatively, the company has sold 6,166 this year, a 37.6% decline.
Volvo AB’s two North American brands came next. Mack Trucks took fifth place selling 748 units, a 29.1% drop from the 1,055 in last year’s month. Seven-month sales were 3,865 units, a 44.4% decline.
Volvo Trucks sold 439 heavy trucks for the month, down 52.7% from the 929 moved last July. So far this year, Volvo has sold 3,930 units, a 51.1% fall.
Freightliner’s two small sister companies within Daimler Trucks North America took the last two slots in the ranks. Sterling Trucks, which discontinued new production in March, sold down its inventory by 338 big vehicles in July, a 57.4% plunge from the July 2008 volume of 793. It was the largest percentage decline by an OEM for the month.
Sterling’s sales for the year were 2,328 units, a 49% drop from the first seven months last year.
DTNA’s Western Star Trucks sold 61 Class 8s in July, a reduction of 41.9% from the 105 it moved in the year-ago month. Cumulative sales were 409 units, a 43.7% decline from the first seven months of 2008.
Declines by Sterling and Western Star have offset Freightliner’s gain. Collectively, DTNA has a seven-month market share of 31.7% this year, compared with 31.8% last year.
