Class 8 News Updates

U.S. Class 8 retail sales continue to face buyer reticence even as improving market conditions spurred growing optimism in May.

A refresh of the truck maker’s lineup has been underway since Mack announced the Pioneer as its latest flagship Class 8 on-highway tractor in April 2025.

Dachser will be the first customer to put production models of the Mercedes-Benz NextGenH2 hydrogen fuel cell electric tractor on the road, Daimler Truck said.

The Monterrey facility — Volvo Group’s first truck manufacturing plant in Mexico — is set to build trucks for both VTNA and Mack, in addition to U.S. output.

ACT Research preliminary data showed orders increased 103% year over year, while FTR Transportation Intelligence reported an even larger 124% gain.

Horizon currently sells Classes 3-7 battery-electric trucks but is expanding its portfolio with a Class 8 design intended to rival the Tesla Semi.

Used Class 8 truck sales plateaued with the retail, auction and wholesale markets driving mixed results for April, according to ACT Research data.

Ahrens takes the helm at Kenworth as the truck maker and sister company Peterbilt push to increase their share of the North American heavy-duty truck market.

“The X10 definitely opens up another market,” Brett Merritt, president of Cummins’ engine business, told analysts and investors during the firm’s investor day.

U.S. Class 8 retail sales fell below the prior-year level as buyers continued to wait for a more sustained freight market recovery in April.