The Canadian medium- and heavy-duty truck sales streak continued in May, rising 9.8% and marking the ninth consecutive month of year-over-year increases. May deliveries hit 4,168 units, compared with 3,942 from prior-year with all groups except Class 4 reporting gains, WardsAuto data shows.
Sales in Class 8 were up a modest 1.8% to 2,644 units. Daimler’s share-leading Freightliner brand gained 24.9%, while International delivered the best results among all competitors, surging 48.8% on volume of 374 units. Losses were posted by PACCAR’s Kenworth (-15.3%) and Peterbilt (-8.6%) brands.
Class 7 performed the best among all big-truck groups, surging 61.4% with all companies posting double-digit gains. Volume leader International saw sales rise 58.5%, while Freightliner deliveries climbed 77.1%. Kenworth and Peterbilt fared better in Class 7, rising 95.0% and 54.8%, respectively. Ford posted the largest increase, up 211.5% on small volume.
In Class 6, results were mixed as Freightliner (+189.3%) and Hino (+85.15) lifted the segment to an overall increase of 21.8%. International’s year-ago volume was halved, and Ford slid 37.7%.
Class 5 deliveries rose 17.7% to 711 units in May as Ford and Hino were the main drivers behind the increase and almost all other manufacturers stumbled. International slid 37.0% and Freightliner lost 48.1%.
Class 4 was the only group to lose ground in May, slipping 1.5% on only 129 units. A 34.8% gain by major player Ford was not enough to overcome double-digit losses witnessed by Hino (-55.5%) and Isuzu domestic models (-54.6%).
Through May, Canada big-truck sales were running 11.1% ahead of like-2014, totaling 18,292 units.
