June Heavy-Duty Sales Soar
U.S. heavy-duty truck sales soared in June to the third-highest level in history, as manufacturers continued to deliver new vehicles that fleets ordered in huge numbers throughout the fall and winter.
Truck makers and their dealers sold 25,369 Class 8 trucks last month, a 31% jump from a year earlier.
“We had a very front-loaded order year and now we’re executing on that, so it doesn’t surprise me that we would see strong production and retail sales,” said Stephen Volkmann, an industry analyst at Jefferies & Co.
The only other time sales exceeded last month’s total was in March 2006, when manufacturers sold 25,895 trucks, and the industry’s record 26,462 sales in December 2006, according to figures from WardsAuto.com.
Last month’s sales volume, which was up 18% from May, was the most ever for the month of June, edging past the previous record of 25,240 set in June 2006.
June also was a record sales month for both the Freightliner and Kenworth brands, company executives confirmed.
“The industry built a lot of trucks in the first half. The result was an increase in heavy-duty inventory, and those trucks are now retailing,” said Jason Skoog, assistant general manager for sales and marketing at Kenworth Truck Co.
John Walsh, vice president of marketing for Mack Trucks Inc., said “robust” freight levels and low fuel prices are boosting fleet profitability, leading to some fleet expansion.
Magnus Koeck, vice president of marketing and brand management for Volvo Trucks in North America, said June is traditionally one of the best months of the year for retail truck sales because fleets are preparing for the fall freight season.
June was only the sixth time that Class 8 sales reached the 25,000-unit plateau in a given month. All five other times occurred during the “pre-buy” year of 2006, when fleets snapped up new trucks at record levels ahead of emission-reduction technology introduced for the 2007 model year.
Volkmann agreed that the current growth cycle seems to be a more natural reflection of the freight market’s overall operating environment for carriers. “The underlying demand for freight is still very healthy, [freight] pricing is good, the new trucks are working well and their fuel economy is solid, so there’s a return on these investments,” he said.
At this point, Volkmann doesn’t anticipate another major pre-buy event resulting from the upcoming Phase 2 greenhouse-gas standards, which he said appears to be “evolution rather than revolution.”
In the first half of 2015, sales totaled 123,188 units, up 23% from the same timeframe last year, according to Ward’s.
Through six months, 2015 appears to be on pace to become the third-best year for U.S. Class 8 sales, behind only the record 284,008 trucks sold in 2006 and 262,316 in 1999.
Although retail sales climbed to near-record levels in June, incoming truck orders simultaneously fell to their lowest point since September 2013, ACT Research reported earlier this month. Industry analysts have attributed the diverging paths of sales and orders to the industry’s extended backlogs. This year’s production capacity began to fill up quickly in the fourth quarter of 2014, when North American truck makers received an average of 43,600 new orders per month, ACT said.
All major Class 8 nameplates posted double-digit sales growth in June.
Daimler Trucks North America’s Freightliner brand soared to a record 9,386 units, a 32% gain from a year earlier. For the six months, DTNA sold 45,862 Freightliners, up 28% from last year. The brand captured 37.2% of the total Class 8 market in the first half, up from 35.8% a year earlier.
Sales for its Western Star brand rose to 536 units, up from 286 a year earlier. Year-to-date sales have jumped 56% to 2,368 units, representing 1.9% market share.
“Stable sales and consistent growth persist, and keep us on track for a record-breaking year,” said Markus Pfeifer, director of marketing operations and planning at DTNA.
June was also a record for U.S. Class 8 sales at Kenworth, which sold 3,737 trucks, up 33% from a year earlier. Its first-half sales increased 32% to 18,100 trucks, lifting market share to 14.7% compared with 13.7% in the first six months of 2014.
Peterbilt Motors Co. sold 2,935 trucks last month, a 16% increase from a year earlier. Through six months, the company’s sales increased 24% to 16,310 trucks, but its first-half market share was flat at 13.2%.
Meanwhile, Navistar Inc. sold 3,339 of its Class 8 International trucks, up 32% year-over-year. First-half sales rose 4% to 15,456, but its market share fell to 12.5%, from 14.9%.
“We continue to see positive sales momentum across all product segments,” said Jeff Sass, Navistar’s senior vice president, sales and marketing.
Sales at Volvo Trucks surged 38% to 3,276 units in June. The company’s first-half sales grew 24% to 15,599 units, while its market share edged up to 12.7%, from 12.6%.
Mack sold 2,145 trucks last month, a 24% gain from a year earlier. Its first-half sales increased 15% to 9,463 units, but its share of the market declined to 7.7%, from 8.2%.
