Truck Sales Remain Strong

By Michael G. Malloy, Staff Reporter

This story appears in the June 16 print edition of Transport Topics.

U.S. Class 8 retail sales continued their brisk pace in May, rising 16.4% from the same month last year to 17,990 trucks, marking the fourth straight month of double-digit percentage growth, Wards Auto.com reported.

The total was the largest this year, and with the exception of the past two Decembers — traditionally the strongest month for sales — was the highest in two years. All seven truck brands posted gains for the month.

Through five months, original equipment manufacturers have sold 80,417 heavy-duty trucks, up 15% from the same period last year, Ward’s said.

May also was the ninth consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases, which followed 12 months of declines.

“We’ve seen strong demand from customers on the order side, but it takes some time to translate that to production and sales,” said Steve Tam, vice president of ACT Research Co. in Columbus, Indiana.

“Maybe now we’re finally seeing a bit of a crescendo with sales coming to fruition,” he told Transport Topics on June 12.

The sales figures followed a report earlier this month that truck orders rose 14.9% in May, and a recent modest uptick in projected 2014 industrywide sales by Navistar International Corp. in its recent earnings report.

Freightliner Trucks’ sales improved 19.1% in May. The flagship brand of Daimler Trucks North America sold 6,301 heavy trucks, holding onto its top monthly market share with 35%.

Its year-to-date sales totaled 28,640, up 4.2% from a year ago, though its cumulative market share slipped to 35.6% from 39.3%.

“Fleets report utilization of their equipment is nearing 100%, driving the need for more equipment,” said David Hames, DTNA’s general manager of marketing and strategy.

“The industry is seeing all fleet segments considering equipment replacement to attract drivers and enhance their bottom lines with smart business products,” Hames said June 12.

DTNA’s Western Star niche line’s sales rose 6% to 316 trucks, putting Daimler’s overall share at 36.8% for May, up slightly from a year ago.

Volvo Trucks’ sales jumped 23% to 2,464 trucks for the month, and one Colorado Volvo dealer said his sales pace has been steadily strong and about on par with Volvo’s overall sales growth.

“Sales have been good. I don’t think it’s feverish, but it’s a good pace right now, and that might be better” than more erratic roller coaster results, said Tom Primozich, sales manager for Denver Volvo, with three mountain West locations.

Mack Trucks, also a part of Volvo Group, posted a 23.5% increase for May, the largest percentage gain among brands, to 1,673 trucks. However, it had the second-smallest monthly market share at 9.3%, up from 8.8% a year ago.

Mack has sold almost 6,500 U.S. trucks this year, a 19.6% gain from its 2013 pace, while its cumulative market share rose slightly to 8.1%.

John Walsh, Mack’s vice president of marketing, said customers are starting to become more likely to purchase new trucks to take advantage of new technologies as the economy improves.

Overall, Volvo Group was third among corporate OEMs with a 23% May market share.

Navistar’s sales rose 20.5% to 2,335 vehicles for a 13% monthly market share, putting it fifth among OEM brands. But its sales have gained 22.8% year to date, accounting for a 15.3% market share for the five months and the No. 2 spot behind Freightliner for the year as a single brand.

“Rebuilding our market share continues to be one of our highest priorities, and we’re working hard to win customers and re-establish our position in the market,” Navistar Chief Operating Officer Jack Allen said in a conference call earlier this month.

“Our sales momentum continued in the quarter [ended April 30], with retail market share gains in every segment,” Allen said.

The two truck units of Paccar Inc., Kenworth Trucks and Peterbilt Motors, had monthly increases of 7.3% and 6.8%, respectively. Kenworth sold 2,528 big trucks in May, while Peterbilt sold 2,368.

Kenworth’s 14.1% market share put it second behind Freightliner for the month, while Peterbilt’s 13.2% was fourth. Paccar was second among corporate-level OEMs in May market share, with 27.2%.

Year to date, Kenworth has sold 10,893 trucks, up 18.3% from a year ago, and Peterbilt has sold 10,614, up 13.8%. Spokesmen for both Paccar units declined to comment last week.