Truck Sales Top 20,000 for 6th Month, Stay Ahead of Last Year’s Pace by 22%

Buoyed by a steady economy, U.S. Class 8 retail sales rose 12.1% in August from a year earlier, passing the 20,000 mark for the sixth month in a row, WardsAuto.com reported.

Fleets and other buyers snapped up 21,998 heavy-duty trucks last month compared with 19,627 a year earlier. August sales year-to-date jumped 22% to 168,569 from 138,210 — and trailed only 2006 when fleets went into a pre-buy ahead of engines with more stringent and less fuel-efficient emission controls.

Market leader Freightliner Trucks’ Class 8 year-over-year sales jumped 17.7% to 8,272 trucks for a 37.6% market share.

Freightliner’s year-to-date share is 37.5%, or 63,248 trucks.

Freightliner’s “continued sales growth is a reflection of our customers’ confidence in a positive development of the U.S. economy,” said Markus Pfeifer, director of marketing operations at Daimler Trucks North America.

Separately, Richard Howard, a senior vice president of sales at DTNA, Freightliner’s parent company, said at a press briefing last week in Nevada that the U.S. market is stronger than either the European Union or Japan.

The largest gain in year-over-year sales belonged to Kenworth Truck Co. They soared 36.6% to 3,597 trucks for a market share of 16.4%. Its year-to-date market share stood at 14.9%, or 25,174 Class 8 trucks.

Kenworth declined to comment for this article.

Mack Truck’s year-over-year total, however, slipped 5.3% to 1,764 trucks in August, or 98 fewer than the 1,862 in the 2014 period.

John Walsh, Mack’s vice president of marketing, said, “Even with a slight decrease in August sales compared to August 2014, Mack’s year-to-date sales in the U.S. are up 8.5%, demonstrating continued strong demand for our heavy-duty trucks from customers across all market segments.”

Walsh agreed there are solid economic fundamentals at work in the industry.

The fundamentals that “continue to positively influence Class 8 truck sales include low fuel prices and substantial freight levels that are contributing to improved profitability, enabling fleets to replace older equipment and, in some cases, expand,” Walsh said.

Mack had a 7.7% year-to-date market share.

Magnus Koeck, vice president of marketing and brand management for Volvo Trucks North America, said the effects of favorable economic conditions on Class 8 sales are clear, with a growing economy and healthy freight rates putting money in fleets’ pockets.

Volvo saw year-to-date sales climb 7.5% to 2,500 trucks, giving it an 11.4% market share in August. Its year-to-date market share stood at 12.3%, or 20,755 trucks.

Meanwhile, Navistar International saw year-over-year sales fall 12.8% to 2,408 trucks. Market share in August stood at 10.9% but is 12.3% thus far this year with a total of 20,809 trucks sold.

Troy Clarke, Navistar’s CEO, said during a recent earnings conference call with analysts that the company was “entering the buying season in conversations with all top-100 fleets and we feel encouraged by the response we’re getting.”

Peterbilt Motors Co., which along with Kenworth is a unit of Paccar Inc., saw year-over-year sales rise 15.2% to 3,036 trucks. That was good for a 13.8% share of last month’s market. Year-to-date market share stands at 13.3%, or 22,421 trucks.

Western Star Trucks, a sister brand to DTNA’s Freightliner, saw a 9.7% jump in year-over-year sales, reaching 406 trucks in August. Its year-to-date market share is 1.9%.

Associate News Editor Jonathan S. Reiskin contributed to this article from Henderson, Nevada.