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For the seventh straight month, sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks in Canada declined, as November Class 5 sales were the only group to post a gain from year-ago.
In Class 8, a 79.0% jump in International deliveries and a 34.3% rise in Volvo Truck sales could not offset large losses by the rest of the manufacturers, as overall sales dropped 5.1% to 2,339 units, WardsAuto data shows.
Daimler’s Freightliner suffered the largest loss at 23.0%, while PACCAR Group’s Kenworth and Peterbilt brands were down 22.0% and 20.5%, respectively.
Class 7 deliveries were relatively flat with mixed results and a small drop of 0.9%. Hino had the largest gain as sales increased 70.7%, followed by Freightliner, which posted a 33.0% rise in deliveries. PACCAR’s Kenworth and Peterbilt were down a combined 26.8%, while Ford’s sales declined 15.7%.
Class 6 trucks fared the worst, as sales for the group plunged 36.9%. Increases by Hino (+75.6%) and Freightliner (+23.0%) could not offset larger losses by Ford and International of 88.0% and 71.9%, respectively.
Class 5 was the only segment to post a gain for the month. A 381.5% jump in Freightliner deliveries, albeit on small volume, along with an 85.7% rise in Isuzu sales lifted Class 5 sales to a 5.2% increase.
November Class 4 deliveries fared the second-worst, with an overall sales decline of 23.1%. Share leader Ford, with 81.1% of the market, posted a modest gain of 4.4%, not enough to keep the group in positive territory as Mitsubishi Fuso plunged 86.2%, Isuzu was down 78.6% and Hino had losses of 67.9%.
Through November, sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks were down 8.6%, to 37,326 units, compared with 40,842 in like-2012.