Canada Big Trucks Fall 6.4% in September

Big-truck sales in Canada slipped 6.4% last month, mostly due to significant losses in Classes 6 and 7, WardsAuto data shows.

Class 8 sales for September managed a modest increase of 3.5% over like-2012. International posted the largest gain, up 38%, while Western Star climbed 30.3%. Peterbilt suffered the biggest decline, as its sales plunged 21.3% below last year’s level. Overall, total Class 8 sales were down 11.3% for the year. Market-leader Freightliner’s share for the month was 24.1%, down slightly from last year’s 25.6%.

Total medium-duty sales fell 20.2%, as deliveries in Classes 6 and 7 offset small gains in Classes 4 and 5.

Class 7 sales decreased 27.6%, as a 58.4% gain by Daimler’s Freightliner brand was not enough to offset a 36.7% decline by sector leader International.PACCAR brands Kenworth and Peterbilt posted mixed results, with Kenworth declining 23.3% while Peterbilt was up 11.6%.Ford slipped 4.9%, while Hino sales fell 13.9% from like-2012. Class 7 year-to-date deliveries through September were down 11% against the same period year-ago.

In Class 6, a 53.8% plunge in volume-leader International’s deliveries, along with a 39.1% drop by Hino, resulted in a total decline for the class of 47.5%, the largest September falloff among all medium-and heavy-duty weight classes. Year-to-date Class 6 deliveries also were down 24.8% from year-ago.

No.1-seller Ford’s 28.6% gain was the biggest factor in Class 5 posting an 8.0% increase, though low-volume PACCAR recorded the largest percentage gain. Mitsubishi Fuso lost 16.4% while International was down 14.2%.

Total Class 4 deliveries for the month were flat compared with year-ago figures. Isuzu import sales rose substantially on small volume, while share-leader Ford was up 13.9%. Year-to-date, Canadian medium- and heavy-duty truck volume was down 10.2% from like-2012.

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