In The News

Medium-Duty Sales Rebound in July

U.S. retail sales of Classes 3-7 trucks rose 11.6% in July from a year earlier to 40,105, WardsAuto.com reported.

The growth was led by an almost 50% jump in Class 7. It followed a 4.8% decline in June, when dealers sold 35,617 Class 3-7 trucks, according to Ward’s figures.

Sales of Classes 3-7 trucks through July totaled 248,418, which is up 2.9% over last year.

An industry analyst said the overall jump was unexpected after June’s decline.

“The gain is counter to what we would expect to see based on historical seasonal patterns,” said Steve Tam, vice president at ACT Research Co. in Columbus, Indiana. “It’s almost as if June and July flip-flopped, as June is typically a much stronger month, typically 8% or 9% above average.

“Once you get into July, that’s when everyone kind of disappears. [Sales] drop below average — not significantly, probably 4 to 5 percentage points — but now you’ve got a swing” higher, he told Transport Topics.

Tam said the lease-and-rental market was the likely cause of the upswing, and while “the housing market continues to send mixed signals, there are certainly pockets that are doing very well,” boosting medium-duty sales.

Dealers sold 6,320 Class 7 trucks in July, a 49.4% jump from the 4,229 total a year ago. It was the highest total for that class this year, with no previous month topping 5,000.

Class 6 sales slipped 7.3% to 3,809 from 4,110, while combined Classes 4-5 rose 13.2% to 7,044. Class 3 sales climbed 7.3% to 22,932.

All classes except Class 3 are higher year-to-date: Class 7 sales have jumped 12.4% to 30,195, Class 6 is up 8.4% to 31,229 and Classes 4-5 have gained 10% to 43,038. Class 3 sales have slipped 1.4% from 146,022 to 143,956.

While Class 6 sales were down, they rose about 4% sequentially from June, when sales in that class plunged 21.7% year-over-year.

Class 7 sales leapt 45% from June’s 4,373 total, while Classes 4-5 were 10% over June’s 6,395 total. Class 3 sales improved 8.3% over June’s 21,182 total.

Freightliner Trucks and Navistar Inc.’s International brand dominated the Class 7 market, selling 2,560 and 2,494 units, respectively.

Freightliner also sold the most Class 6 vehicles, with 1,486, followed by Ford Motor Co.’s 915.

Ford held its market lead in Classes 4-5, selling 3,590 trucks, followed by Isuzu, which sold 1,296.

Chrysler continues to outpace the combined efforts of Ford and GM in Class 3 sales, with 11,552 trucks sold in July, compared to 7,138 for Ford and 3,762 for GM.

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