In The News

Class 8 sales continue year-over-year gains in January

Heavy-duty truck sales in January improved 25 percent compared to the year before, getting 2011 off to a good start.

According to figures provided to The Trucker by Ward’s Automotive, Class 8 sales totaled 9,236 trucks in the United States, up from 7,387 trucks in January 2010. The year-over-year improvement was 13th  consecutive as the industry continues to climb out of 2009’s sales hole.

January sales were off 21.3 percent compared to December 2010, in line with historical month-to-month declines to start the year.

In a brand-by-brand look at the most recent figures, Daimler Trucks North America’s Freightliner nameplate led the field, selling 3,170 trucks in January, a 7.3 percent decline from December but a 40.5 percent improvement from the year before.

Navistar sold 2,276 International brand trucks, gaining 2.8 percent from the previous month, and up 3.9 percent from January 2010.

PACCAR nameplates Peterbilt and Kenworth sold 1,142 trucks (down 33.7 percent from December, up 34.4 percent from January 2010) and 1,034 trucks (down 30.9 percent, up 42.2 percent), respectively.

Volvo Group’s Mack Trucks Inc. was down 56 percent from the previous month on 686 trucks sold in January (up 24.1 percent from the year before), while Volvo Trucks North America was down 33.9 percent for the month, with 672 trucks sold (up 19.3 from January 2010).

Month-to-month numbers, it should be noted, can vary greatly — especially between quarters or from year’s end — depending on an OEM’s sales incentives and reporting procedures.

The U.S. market share pie chart for the first month of the year shows Freightliner with a 34.3 percent slice of Class 8, topping International (11.2 percent). Peterbilt’s share is 12.4 percent and Kenworth holds 11.2 percent, followed by Volvo (8.7 percent) and Mack (7.4 percent).

Kevin Jones of The Trucker staff can be reached for comment at [email protected] .

www.theTrucker.com