Medium-Duty Sales Rise 20.1% in March

This story appears in the April 19 print edition of Transport Topics.

Recovery in the medium-duty truck market gathered strength in March, as overall U.S. retail sales in Classes 3-7 increased for the fourth consecutive month, according to WardsAuto.com.

Truck makers and their dealers sold 24,130 medium-duty trucks in March, up 20.1% from the 20,089 sold a year ago. Total first-quarter volume was 56,693 units, an 11.2% improvement over the 50,987 sold during the first three months of 2009, Ward’s said.

“We had a good month and we’re expecting to have a good year. Some people who had deferred purchases are coming back into the market,” said Roy Wiley, a spokesman for Navistar Inc., which has the largest market share in Classes 6 and 7.

Although Class 6 sales were stronger in the first quarter, Wiley said he expects Class 7 sales soon will perk up because of seasonal factors.

“Medium-duty vehicle production, which is largely tied to the health of the housing and construction, is expected to see a more steady and gradual increase in production, growing 19% in 2010 and 32% in 2011,” said ACT Research Co. in an April 12 statement comparing the manufacture of Classes 5-7 with heavy-duty trucks.

On the heavy-duty side, ACT is predicting 14% growth in production this year and more than 70% in 2011 (click here for  p. 1 story).

Ward’s reported that medium-duty sales grew in four of the five gross-vehicle-weight rating groups during March, with only Class 5 posting a minor decline of 1.4%, year-over-year.

Volume improvements in Classes 3 and 6 have been the major engines for growth for both the month and the quarter, the Ward’s report said.

The expansion that started in December has not brought medium-duty volumes back to levels that could be described as typical by historical standards, but it well could mark the end of what had been a long, damaging trend. Through November, medium-duty sales had declined for 21 straight months, measured year-over-year.

However, recovery has not taken hold uniformly across the nation.

“Our heavy-duty business is up a little, but medium-duty is still flat,” said Ray Mason, who is president of Columbus (Ohio) Truck & Equipment. Mason sells medium-duty Hinos to complement his heavy-duty Macks and Volvos.

Ward’s said U.S. businesses bought 3,859 Class 7 trucks, a 10.4% increase from 3,494 in March 2009. The quarterly volume rose 0.1% to 9,708 vehicles.

Navistar’s Wiley said first quarters are usually slow for Class 7, so there is reason to be hopeful for a pickup in sales as the year progresses. Navistar had a 45.1% market share of Class 7 during the first quarter.

The Daimler Trucks brands of Freightliner, Sterling and Mitsubishi Fuso collectively finished second with 35.2% of the class. All other Class 7 manufacturers had less than 10% each.

Class 6 monthly sales shot up by 63.8% to 3,373 trucks, an increase from 2,059 the March before. The cumulative increase is 36.1%, bringing year-to-date sales to 7,729.

Navistar had a first-quarter majority of 50.2% of sales in the class. The three Daimler brands combined for 19.2% of the market and Ford Motor Co. had 16%.

Class 5 monthly sales dipped to 2,034 trucks from 2,063 in March 2009. The three-month total inched up 0.3% to 5,608 vehicles.

For the quarter, Ford had a 43.4% share of the class, Dodge had 19.8% and General Motors finished third with 13.6%, Ward’s said.

The Class 4 volume was 2,029 trucks, or 10.9% more than the 1,829 that moved a year ago. For the quarter, sales were down 13.4% to 4,239 vehicles.

Ford also had a plurality of this class, with 41.6% of sales. Daimler Trucks North America was second with 18.3% and Isuzu Trucks finished third with a 15.8% quarterly market share.

In the more voluminous Class 3, monthly sales jumped 20.6% to 12,835 vehicles, from 10,644 a year ago. The cumulative volume rose 17.1% to 29,409 trucks.

Chrysler Group’s Dodge division controlled 52.4% of quarterly sales. Ford had a 28.4% market share and GM finished third with 17.2%.