In The News
ACT: August Class 5-8 vehicle orders down 8% due to backlogs
COLUMBUS, Ind. — For the month of August, preliminary numbers show 37,200 Classes 5-8 vehicle orders were booked, down 8 percent from July and down 14 percent compared to August 2014, according to ACT Research.
Final numbers will be released in mid-September.
"The year-over-year decline marked the fifth consecutive negative reading for Classes 5-8 orders," said Kenny Vieth, ACT's president and senior analyst. "However, we continue to believe that much of the order decline is a reflection of larger backlogs and tough comparisons in regard to falling below strong year-ago volumes, rather than any substantive change in demand."
Class 8 orders were 19,700 units, 20 percent below July orders and 22 percent below August 2014. Because August is typically the second weakest order month of the year, seasonal adjustment raises the month's volume to 22,600 units.
The relative weakness in orders over the past several months has more to do with the huge orders that occurred from October to February than anything else, Vieth said.
"If long lead-time orders were booked in the first quarter that went to filling four-quarter build slots, you can't place an order to fill already booked slots again in August," he said.
North American Classes 5-7 vehicle orders rebounded in August to 17,500 units. This result was up 10 percent from July, but down 3 percent compared to last August.
"Historically, August is an above average order month for medium-duty vehicles, so seasonal adjustment actually reduces August's medium-duty order volume to 17,200 units," Vieth said.
ACT is a publisher of new and used commercial vehicle industry data, market analysis and forecasting services for the North American market, as well as the China CV market. ACT's CV services are used by all major North American truck and trailer manufacturers and their suppliers, as well as the banking and investment community.
For more information on ACT, please go to www.actresearch.net.
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