Journal Cites Likely Downturn in 2007 Truck Sales

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ew diesel- engine rules set to take effect Jan. 1 could turn down sales of big rigs by as much as 40% from this year’s level, but there may another sales boom in 2008 in advance of further rules set to take effect in 2010, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Nationwide sales of trucks may reach 284,000 this year, about twice that of 2001, the Journal said. Truck and engine makers such as Freightliner LLC, Navistar International Corp. and Cummins Inc. have all been buoyed this year by a sales boom, sometimes, called a “pre-buy” in advance of the ’07 standards.

New emissions rules set by the Environmental Protection Agency cutting diesel engine emissions such as soot and nitrogen oxides take effect Jan. 1. EPA rules will get even stricter in 2010.

The challenge for truck makers will be not to cut their production too deeply next year because of an anticipated sales boom in 2008 in advance of more emissions rules set to kick in 2010, the Journal reported.

Job cuts in the truck making and related supplier industries will hit areas heavily concentrated around the Great Lakes region, the paper reported.