Medium-Duty Truck Sales Rebound After Two-Month Decline
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U.S. retail sales of medium-duty trucks in July experienced overall year-over-year gains despite mixed results across vehicle segments, according to data from Wards Intelligence.
Classes 4-7 total retail truck sales for the month increased 6% to 20,792 units compared with 19,618 in the year-ago period and rose 4.2% sequentially from 19,959 units in June. The results ended a brief two-month period of year-over-year declines for medium-duty sales overall.
The data showed that two of the four medium-duty classes saw year-over-year gains. Class 7 sales increased 16.5% to 4,885 units from 4,195, while Class 5 increased 11% to 7,842 units from 7,066. Class 4 decreased 8.5% to 1,975 units from 2,159, and Class 6 declined 1.7% to 6,090 units from 6,198.
“I don’t think things have changed too dramatically,” ACT Research Vice President Steve Tam said, noting that the Class 7 gain was largely attributable to the private fleet and rental segments.
RELATED: Class 8 Truck Sales End Nearly a Year of Declines
“That Class 7 truck is just a wonderful substitute for a CDL driver,” he said, citing the opportunity Class 7 presents for Class 8 drivers transitioning away from heavy-duty trucks. “These fleets that are especially focused on local pickup and delivery can go to a 27-foot box truck. They’re not as productive as they necessarily would be [with] a Class 8 semi, but they also might not need the capacity that would afford them.”
Tam added, “That’s a bread-and-butter truck for the industry, and I think that’s part of the reason that we’re seeing growth there.”
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Conversely, Tam noted that Class 6 is somewhat of a middle-of-the-road truck, as small businesses that need a basic delivery truck might get a Class 5 truck, while companies that need more capacity might opt for a Class 7.
Freightliner, a brand of Daimler Truck North America, sold the most Class 7 trucks during the month at 2,058 units. Navistar’s International brand sold the most Class 6 trucks at 1,682 units. Ford sold the most in Class 5 at 4,526 units. Isuzu sold the most Class 4 units at 821.
