November Truck Sales Fall 54.3%

By Jonathan S. Reiskin, Associate News Editor
This story appears in the Dec. 24-31 print edition of Transport Topics.

Editor's Note: Because of the holidays, the Dec. 24 and Dec. 31 issues of TT are combined. The next issue will be published Jan. 7.
Class 8 truck sales in the United States continued to scrape along the bottom in November, with original equipment manufacturers selling 10,309 vehicles — down 54.3% from the 22,539 they sold a year ago.
The report from WardsAuto.com  was the seventh consecutive month for a sales decline of more than 50%. However, A.C.T. Research Co. reported a glimmer of hope, saying that orders for new trucks have increased.
Cumulatively through Nov. 30, U.S. sales by OEMs are running 46.1% below last year’s record level. In 2006, many motor carriers engaged in a pre-buy as they sought to avoid purchasing this year’s trucks, which contain more expensive new engines with federally mandated stricter low-emissions technology.
“The November retail sales numbers reflect continuing soft demand for heavy-duty trucks in North America,” said Mack Trucks spokesman John Walsh.
“The effects of the pre-buy occurred as expected in the first half of 2007. The market is coming back slower than anticipated in the second half due to economic realities, including weakness in the freight environment and the drop-off in housing construction.
A.C.T. found some evidence of a market rebound when it reported that November’s heavy-duty orders improved by 9% over the same month in 2006. October appears to have been the break-even point, with a 0.9% increase.
In the 16 months prior to that, A.C.T. said, orders for new trucks had been in decline on a year-over-year basis.
Among the major OEMs, International Truck and Engine Corp. displaced Freightliner Trucks as the most popular nameplate for the month.
International moved 2,441 big vehicles, down 41.4% from last November’s 4,164.
In contrast, Freightliner sold 1,901 units, down 69.8% from 6,292 a year ago. Freightliner’s sales plummeted more than any other OEM’s.
International spokesman Roy Wiley said buyer interest in the company’s new ProStar truck has helped lessen the pain of the contraction, but “our order board really hasn’t picked up. We’re hoping to see some more activity next year, but the market is still soft now.”
Freightliner did not respond to a request for comment.
Volvo Trucks North America posted a sales decrease of 32.1% to 1,626 big trucks. A year ago the level was 2,395.
“Some of Volvo’s deliveries are for trucks originally scheduled for earlier in 2007, but were delayed for various reasons until later in the year,” said Volvo spokesman James McNamara.
“However, low levels of freight demand are limiting customer needs for higher levels of truck deliveries at this time,” McNamara said.
VTNA and Mack are owned by Volvo AB.
Mack sold 956 heavy trucks, a 54.3% decrease from last year’s 2,093.
The operating companies of Paccar Inc. held down the Nos. 4 and 5 slots among OEMs.
Kenworth Trucks moved 1,432 units, down 50% from the 2,865 vehicles sold last year. Kenworth usually finishes behind its sister company, Peterbilt Motors, but not in November.
Peterbilt’s monthly sales fell by 61.2% to 1,206 units, compared with 3,108 a year ago.
Kenworth General Manager Bob Christensen said the company’s T660 model has helped to prop up sales.
“Orders for the new Kenworth T660 and outstanding dealer support have contributed to our market share gains,” he said.
Through Nov. 30, Kenworth controlled 12.9% of the market, up 1.3 percentage points from last year’s 11.6% share.
On a combined basis, Paccar’s companies topped those of Daimler Trucks North America by a scant four vehicles: 2,638 to 2,634.
Daimler’s two smaller brands, Sterling and Western Star Trucks, reported monthly declines of 50.8% and 67.6%, respectively.
Sterling sold 636 heavy trucks, down from 1,292 last year. Western Star moved 97 units for the month, compared with 299 in November 2006.
In other U.S. market share changes based on the first 11 months, Freightliner still has the leading share, 25%, but that represents a loss of 2.9 points from last year’s 27.9%.
Sterling, though, gained share, moving to 8.1% from 5.9%.
Mack’s market share declined to 8.8% from 10% during the first 11 months of 2006.
Market shares for International, Volvo, Peterbilt and Western Star all remained largely the same.