U.S. makers of medium- and heavy-duty trucks posted their best May sales total since 2006 as deliveries of 33,185 units marked a 5.6% rise from like-2013, WardsAuto data shows. May also was the ninth consecutive month big trucks recorded a year-over-year increase.
Through the first five months, medium- and heavy–duty trucks were up 12.6% on volume of 153,271 units vs. 136,121 from prior-year.
The Class 8 segment led the way with sales of 17,990 units, up 12.1%, as all brands enjoyed year-over-year increases. Volvo Truck outperformed the group with an 18.6% increase, as its Mack and Volvo brands were up 18.9% and 18.4%, respectively. Market leader Freightliner also posted strong results, up 14.7% and increasing its share to 35.0%. For the year, Class 8 is up 15.0% on unit sales of 80,417 vs. 69,911 in 2013.
In the medium-duty segments, deliveries slipped 1.1% due to a decline in Class 5, while all other sectors saw gains.
Class 7 sales rose 8.9% on volume of 4,118 units. Kenworth led all gainers, jumping 55.1%, while Peterbilt was up 14.9%, leading parent PACCAR to an overall 30.5% rise. Segment leader Freightliner was up 5.5%, securing over half of the market at 50.1%. The only manufacturers to lose ground were Hino, down 5.3% and International, off 0.7%.
Strong results posted by Ford (+54.4%), Kenworth (+51.1%) and Peterbilt (+56.5%) were enough to eke out a 2.7% rise in Class 6. Ford’s share rose over 10 percentage points to 34.7%, as it overtook Freightliner (-15.6%) for the market share lead.
Class 5 was the only segment to suffer a loss as deliveries fell 13.0% to 5,259 units from 5,821 in 2013. A 14.7% loss by share leader Ford and a 38.4% slide by second- place Chrysler overcame triple-digit gains by Kenworth and Freightliner. For the year, however, Class 5 is still up 9.0% on volume of 24,755 units.
Class 4 finished the month in positive territory, rising 14.4% on sales of 1,377 units. Strong gains by Isuzu’s domestic and import units, up 32.1% and 47.3%, respectively, were enough to offset losses by class leader Ford, which suffered a 29.5% decline. Ford’s share also plunged to 20.5% from 33.2% a year earlier.
Class 8 had a 55 days’ supply at the end of May, compared with 57 year-ago. However, inventory rose slightly to 36,912 units from 34,140. There was 85 days’ supply of medium-duty trucks, up from 66 prior-year as the month’s unit inventory rose to 47,943 from 37,510.
In other big-truck news: FTR has released preliminary data showing May 2014 North American Class 8 truck net orders at 25,605 units, a 14% year-over-year increase and the strongest May since 2006. Class 8 orders now have had 16 consecutive months with year-over-year increases. Backlogs remain at very high levels, and OEMs will continue to increase build rates in response to this growing demand. Class 8 orders for the latest 6-month period through May annualize to 343,000 units.
“The positive performance of Class 8 orders in May met our expectations with the volume right in line with our forecast, says Don Ake, FTR vice president of Commercial Vehicles. The recent order activity confirms that the market has some real strength. We do expect Class 8 orders to slow down in the summer as generally is the case, but they will remain above last year’s levels.”
