Class 8 truck sales improve in March; still down 28% in 2009

Daimler Trucks North America’s Freightliner regained top spot, selling 2,517 trucks in March, nearly matching the 2,536 trucks it sold in March 2008 — easily the best year-over-year comparison in the Class 8 field. Pictured is the Freightliner Cascadia.

By Kevin Jones
The Trucker Staff

4/13/2009

A March rebound in big truck sales came through as expected, with manufacturers posting a 31.8 percent gain over February. According to figures provided to The Trucker by Ward’s Automotive, Class 8 sales totaled 8,222 trucks in the United States in March, marking the ninth improvement compared to February in the last 10 years. The target was an easy one, however: the 6,236 trucks sold the month before was the worst one-month showing in data dating to 1985.

And the March uptick can hardly be called a turnaround for the industry. Compared to sales the year before, the 2009 number is 21 percent lower than March 2008 (10,419 trucks).

To illustrate the boom and bust cycle in heavy-duty truck sales, the number of Class 8 trucks sold in the 2009 first quarter (21,832) would have been a middling total for just a single month in the 2005-2006 peak years, when the industry averaged more than 22,000 unit sales monthly.

In a brand-by-brand look at the most recent figures, Daimler Trucks North America’s Freightliner regained top spot, selling 2,517 trucks in March, nearly matching the 2,536 trucks it sold in March 2008 — easily the best year-over-year comparison in the Class 8 field. Navistar’s International brand fell to second place with 2,252 trucks sold, a 14.5 percent slide from March 2008.

And though none of the nameplates gained ground over last year, most of the truck makers bettered their February totals. Kenworth gained 18.7 percent in March (920 trucks sold) and Paccar sibling Peterbilt improved 2.4 percent (857 trucks sold).

Only Volvo Trucks North America’s Mack and Volvo brands did not show improvement from February. Volvo’s Class 8 sales fell 14.2 percent, on 639 trucks sold, while Mack saw a 3.8 percent decline (436 trucks sold).

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.

For the first three months of 2009, Class 8 sales were down 27.8 compared to last year.

The market share pie chart at the end of the first quarter shows Freightliner with a 29.2 percent slice and International with 27.9 percent. Peterbilt’s share is 11.2 percent and Kenworth holds 10.8 percent of the Class 8 market.

Since the March report last year, Freightliner has improved its leading position by 466 basis points to 29.2 percent year-to-date, while International’s market share has improved 365 basis points to 27.9 percent. Volvo has seen its share fall from almost 13 percent to less than 9 percent.

Kevin Jones of The Trucker staff can be reached for comment at kevinj@thetrucker.com.