Medium-Duty Segment Ends Year With Steady Growth

[kscarbel2]

Transport Topics  /  January 16, 2018

U.S. retail sales of medium-duty trucks climbed 5.4% in December, with only Class 6 volumes dipping from a year earlier, WardsAuto.com reported.

Sales of Classes 4-7 trucks totaled 21,179 units compared with 20,096 in the 2016 period.

For the full year, sales were 222,790, up 7.3% from 207,694 in the 2016 period. Gains in the period were led by a 13% rise in Classes 4-5.

“The growth is not quite as spectacular or as volatile as you see on the Class 8 side [up 43% in December year-over-year], but ever since we came out of the Great Recession [medium-duty] has had a slow methodical, really sustainable, growth rate,” ACT Research Co. Vice President Steve Tam said.

“You have investment by businesses, so there are more things being produced, and often it is the medium-duty guys who are at play in that space,” he added.

Sales of Class 7 trucks in December jumped 12.9% to 5,429 and were spread among five truck makers. Freightliner led with a 47% market share. Paccar Inc. and Navistar International Corp. were next, while Ford Motor Co. and Hino Motor Sales USA Inc. tied with 264 sales each.

Class 6 sales slipped 4.2% to 5,385 in a market crowded with seven truck makers.

Segment leader Ford Motor Co. was the main downward force, with sales plummeting 41.5% to 1,685 from 2,883 units a year earlier.

Ford did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Freightliner was right behind Ford, selling 1,640 trucks.

Others ranked by sales included Hino, Navistar International, Paccar Inc. and Isuzu Commercial Truck of America Inc..

Also in December, GM launched its Chevrolet brand low-cab forward truck in Class 6, selling seven.

Classes 4-5 rose 7.3% for the month to 10,365 trucks.

Ford led in Class 5 with a 60% market share, or 4,846 trucks.

Isuzu earned a 60% share in Class 4 with 1,394 sales.

Kenworth Truck Co. announced its K270 Class 6 and K370 Class 7 models now come with the option of the Bendix Wingman Fusion advanced driver assistance system.

“There are certainly folks, especially in the private fleets, who understand and are willing to make that kind of an investment in the equipment,” Tam said.

Wingman Fusion offers enhanced collision mitigation, lane departure warning, stationary vehicle braking, and overspeed alert and action.

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[TS7]

So Ford is the sales leader in class 6, 5, and 4 total?

[Red Horse]

13 hours ago, TS7 said:

So Ford is the sales leader in class 6, 5, and 4 total?

 

13 hours ago, TS7 said:

So Ford is the sales leader in class 6, 5, and 4 total?

Well in 3-4 and 5 its Dodge by a bit over Ford.   As for 6,5 and 4, might be Ford but their class 6 sales were very high early in the year-I think they had a huge order for gas 650's from U-Haul- plus even UPS bought some.  When the new JV  Chevy/Internationals hit the market soon in class 4 and 5 the going is going to get tougher.

IMO, Ford needs another diesel option beside the Power Stroke/Torque shift (I think a lot of people still have a bad taste from the 6.9/6.4) plus a lot of people just don't like V-8 diesels.

As for gas, they are the only game in town in a conventional in class 6 and 7 but again the 6.8 V-10 is a bit small.  rumor has it they will soon have a 7.3 V-8 gasoline and that will be a big help.

[TS7]

That's not what the sales numbers show above.  

[kscarbel2]

I observe a lot of growth in Class 5. But whereas in the past Ford would have dominated with the F-550, many companies, municipalities and utilities are instead buying Dodge (Ram) 5500s. The key reason being the class-leading Cummins engine.

Class 5 sales also appear to be robbing sales from Class 4, customers purchasing a 5500 instead of the 4500.

Bob, Ford could have given the Japanese low-cab-forward trucks some competition with the E-550. But only producing it for two years (2002-2003), they didn't give it a chance, nor did Ford make any effort to market it as a Hino/Isuzu/Fuso/UD alternative. It needed forward development (refinement), but it was a beginning.

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[Red Horse]

2 hours ago, TS7 said:

That's not what the sales numbers show above.  

Look again- TT article groups 5, 6, 7.  HDT groups 3,4,5 and  Dodge is the leader-and has been for a quite a few months

[TS7]

 First I have never seen a 2017 Dodge truck. Ford sold 60% of all class 5, almost half of all class 4 and 5. Show me sales figures for each class, all brands and we will see if FCA is the sales leader. How many Ram 2500 are sold as class 3? How many F-250 are class 3? I would guess many Ram 2500 are 10,001 GVW, makes them class 3. As I have said before Ford builds more different class 3-5 models than anyone. Somewhere the real sales numbers  are out there for each class by GVW and where they were sold.  

[kscarbel2]

Wards Auto  /  January 12, 2018

U.S. medium- and heavy-duty truck sales hit 43,534 in December, 24.3% above year-ago’s 36,365. With seven months of consecutive year-over-year gains, big trucks ended the year at 415,042 units, 3.5% ahead of like-2016’s 400,996.

Class 8 sales posted a 48.5% gain, a third December best, to 22,355. The push wasn’t enough to equal last year’s total of 192,662, with 2017 falling 0.2% short to 192,252. Segment leader Freightliner almost doubled its volume, reaching 8,504 deliveries and accounting for a 38.0% market share. Volvo was the only truck maker in the group to underperform in December, down 12.8%, outweighing sister brand Mack’s 5.8% gain. That left Volvo Truck down 4.5% for the month.

Medium-duty truck sales totaled 21,179, a 6.1% bump compared with year-ago’s 20,736, ending the year up 6.9% at 222,790 deliveries. All medium-duty classes exceeded 2016 sales, topped by Class 4’s 30.7% increase to 18,690 deliveries.

Class 7 deliveries jumped 14.1% with large volume gains from Freightliner (+27.9%), Ford (+65.2%) and Kenworth (26.6%). Freightliner accounted for a 46.7% market share for the year and ended 2.5% above year-ago with 29,256 units.

Class 6 was the only sector to finish below year-ago. Deliveries totaled 5,385 units, down 5.0%. Segment-leader Ford was the main downward force, with sales plummeting 39.3% from 2,883 units to 1,685. Runner-up Freightliner’s 49.0% bounce to 1,640 units wasn’t enough to offset Ford’s decline. Chevrolet’s LCF entered Class 6 for the first time in December with 7 units. Freightliner also clinched the No.1 spot in this class for the year with a 32.9% market share.

Class 5 pulled off a 3.7% gain thanks to Ford’s 10.0% jump to 4,846 units and Hino’s 79.1% spike to 564. These gains offset FCA’s 15.0% plunge to 1,705 units. Ford held the No.1 spot in the class all year long, ending with a 63.0% market share and 9.9% gain over 2016.

Class 4 continued to outperform any other class with demand jumping 30.3% to 2,328 trucks. Last month marked the best December since 2009 when 2,519 trucks were delivered. Hino was the only truck maker to decline, falling 8.5% below last year with 104 units. Mitsubishi Fuso saw the greatest improvement, soaring 710.0% from 15 to 117 units. For the year, Ford claimed first place with a 24.3% rise in sales and a 15.4% market share. With domestics and imports climbing 700.6% and 469.2%, respectively, GM grew from a 1.7% market share in 2016 to 9.3% in 2017.

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[Red Horse]

1 hour ago, TS7 said:

 First I have never seen a 2017 Dodge truck. Ford sold 60% of all class 5, almost half of all class 4 and 5. Show me sales figures for each class, all brands and we will see if FCA is the sales leader. How many Ram 2500 are sold as class 3? How many F-250 are class 3? I would guess many Ram 2500 are 10,001 GVW, makes them class 3. As I have said before Ford builds more different class 3-5 models than anyone. Somewhere the real sales numbers  are out there for each class by GVW and where they were sold.  

Here you go January Heavy Duty Trucking

 class 3-4-5    Units YTD 11 MOS.       Market Share

  Dodge                  156,773                         42.3%

  Ford                      131,410                        35.45%

By the way. In addition to being a "Mack guy", I'm a "Ford guy" too.  If you don't believe the numbers, take it up with HDT

 

[Red Horse]

12 hours ago, kscarbel2 said:

I observe a lot of growth in Class 5. But whereas in the past Ford would have dominated with the F-550, many companies, municipalities and utilities are instead buying Dodge (Ram) 5500s. The key reason being the class-leading Cummins engine.

Class 5 sales also appear to be robbing sales from Class 4, customers purchasing a 5500 instead of the 4500.

Bob, Ford could have given the Japanese low-cab-forward trucks some competition with the E-550. But only producing it for two years (2002-2003), they didn't give it a chance, nor did Ford make any effort to market it as a Hino/Isuzu/Fuso/UD alternative. It needed forward development (refinement), but it was a beginning.

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Kevin- Hear you on the E-550.  Dealer friend of mine was really pissed when they dropped it.  He had converted a lot of customers to the truck  and was enjoying repeat sales.

As for the utilities, I do see   some 5500 Dodge buckets running around these parts but there is an Altech facility in next town over.  Their yard is always full of chassis awaiting installs.  There are probably 100 or more Fords there now and a few -5??- Dodges.  

 As for big trucks-(class7,8) virtually all F'liners with a few Internationals and an occasional PACCAR.  Have not seen a Ford since Blue Diamond shut down.  And there are plenty of utility co. 750's in service around here but they all Bluediamonds.  What's changed?  The failure of Ford to offer something other than the 6.7Powerstroke-Torqueshift IMO

[TS7]

What did kscarbel2 just post, Ford sales leader Class 6, 5 and 4 for 2017. I think Ford class 7 woes have more to with DPF issues with Cat and Cummins than new trucks with 6.7Powerstoke. I almost bought a used 2009 F-750 (170,000 mi) Cat last year, did not, $25,000 to replace DPF. Go to a Ford Truck dealer, ask about Cummins and Cat in F-650 and F-750 there were a lot of issues with them after about 2006. Ford had the right idea in the HN80 cab for class 6 and 7 back in 1997, but they sold out. Super duty cab was never built to be a medium-duty cab like the LN7000 a great truck. I do not understand why E-550 was dropped, still see them here, no diesel after 2004? I own and run only Ford and Mack trucks everyday in my construction business. 

[kscarbel2]

1 hour ago, TS7 said:

What did kscarbel2 just post, Ford sales leader Class 6, 5 and 4 for 2017. I think Ford class 7 woes have more to with DPF issues with Cat and Cummins than new trucks with 6.7Powerstoke. I almost bought a used 2009 F-750 (170,000 mi) Cat last year, did not, $25,000 to replace DPF. Go to a Ford Truck dealer, ask about Cummins and Cat in F-650 and F-750 there were a lot of issues with them after about 2006. Ford had the right idea in the HN80 cab for class 6 and 7 back in 1997, but they sold out. Super duty cab was never built to be a medium-duty cab like the LN7000 a great truck. I do not understand why E-550 was dropped, still see them here, no diesel after 2004? I own and run only Ford and Mack trucks everyday in my construction business. 

I believe the last year one could order a Class 6-7 Ford (F-650/F-750) with a Caterpillar (7.2L C7) was 2009.

And the last year one could order a Class 6-7 Ford with a Cummins (6.7L ISB) was 2015.

Fast forward to last year (2017), I think the lack of better credentials (Cummins powerplant, Allison automatic, Eaton transmissions) and lack of aggressive sales marketing are the root of Ford's problems in medium duty.

[TS7]

If I was looking for a new 33 or 36 GVW truck, I would take a real good look at a Mack MHD before any other brand. Do you really think Ford is losing a lot of sales without Cummins? Maybe, I will bet Ford dealer service dept. do not miss them.  Ford will never get back in heavy trucks in the US and is happy to be where they are in sales I think. Take a good look at class 5. I see a lot of F-550 gas trucks, cost a lot less, no DPF or DEF.