COLUMBUS, Ind. — Preliminary North American Class 8 net tractor orders in April were 11,600 units, down 27% year-over-year (-39% month-over-month), while preliminary Classes 5-7 net orders were 18,000 units, down 10% year-over-year (-6% month-over-month).
Complete industry data for April, including final order numbers, will be published by ACT Research in mid-May.
“Given robust Class 8 orders into year end, ensuing backlog support, and normal seasonal order patterns, orders were expected to moderate into Q2; we expected seasonally adjusted orders in a range of 15-20,000 units per month into mid-Q3’23, said Eric Crawford, ACT’s vice president and senior analyst.
Coupling those items with increasingly cautious readings from the ACT Class 8 Dashboard, “April orders were weaker than expected on a standalone basis but bring the year-to-date monthly seasonally adjusted average to 17,500, squarely in line with our view,” Crawford said.
“The recent turmoil in the banking sector likely tightened credit conditions for some industry participants and may have played a factor in exacerbating April’s weakness,” Crawford said. “Thus, while we expect orders to remain at subdued levels into mid-Q3’23, we are not inclined to think April’s order activity represents the likely run rate going forward.”
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