Medium-Duty Sales Build on 2017 Gains, Surpass 16,000 in January

[kscarbel2]

Transport Topics  /  February 14, 2018

U.S. retail sales of medium-duty trucks in January surpassed 16,000 units, up 9.9% from a year earlier, WardsAuto.com reported.

The report comes amid forecasts from engine maker Cummins Inc. that the 2018 market would improve compared with 2017.

Wards said sales in Classes 4-7 vehicles were 16,246 compared with 14,782 a year earlier.

“Medium-duty sales are continuing to build on the momentum in most, if not all, of 2017,” one analyst said.

Sales climbed in all classes compared with the 2017 period.

Class 7 improved the most, up 16.2%, to 4,578. Freightliner claimed a 51% market share, selling 2,333 trucks. Freightliner is a brand of Daimler Trucks North America.

International, a unit of Navistar International Corp., sold 1,030, good for a 22% share.

Peterbilt Motors Co. sold 614, up from 349 Class 7 trucks a year earlier.

Peterbilt is a unit of Paccar Inc., whose total Class 7 sales reached 927, when including its other brand, Kenworth Truck Co.

Ford Motor Co. with 173 sales, and Toyota Group’s Hino Trucks with 115, rounded out the Class 7 segment.

Looking ahead to 2019, Hino plans to introduce a line of Class 7 trucks with its 9-liter engine built at its new assembly plant in West Virginia.

Class 6 sales rose 10.7% to 5,518; Freightliner accounted for 2,279 of them.

International and Ford battled for the second spot, with International selling 1,335 and Ford 1,199. Hino sold 457.

Classes 4-5 sales climbed 5% to 6,150.

Ford earned a 63% market share in the combined segment of lighter trucks, selling 3,872.

Ford’s combined share included 3,556 Class 5 trucks. FCA’s Dodge Ram brand was next in Class 5 with 907. (FCA is a member of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V.)

In the crowded Class 4 market, Isuzu Commercial Truck of America Inc. led with 501.

Ford sold 316, Freightliner 222, General Motors Chevrolet LCF model sold 79, Hino sold 49 and DTNA’s Mitsubishi Fuso brand 19.

In related news, engine maker Cummins Inc. forecast sales in the North American medium-duty markets it participates in, primarily Classes 6-7, will grow to 124,000 units, up 5% compared with 2017. The company projected its engine market share would be 72-75%.

However, Cummins is expecting some share erosion from truck makers expanding their vertical integration of proprietary powertrains.

Orders for Classes 5-7 in January were 31,700 units — the best month since July 2006 and the third-best month on record.

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[Red Horse]

Kevin- Thx for posting this.  The gorilla ( F'liner) just gets stronger.  Nice to see International making a comeback.  On the other side of the coin Ford looks lke they are in trouble.  They were doing great in class 6 last year but I suspect that was a lot of low hanging fruit (U-Haul?) who jumped on the gasoline powered 650.  

 the Work Truck Show should be interesting.  Hopefully  Ford will have some news about the rumored new 7+ liter V-8.  And if Hino is going to offer a 9 L 6 cyl. in class 7 that should be a tough competitor for everyone.

Perhaps Hino's move with that bigger engine will convince Ford they should think about another diesel option to the Power Stroke.

[Maxidyne]

Might explain why Ford and FCA are showing little or no interest in classes 6-8... Why tool up a low volume product to compete with Daimler that will tie up an assembly line that could build more profitable pickups and SUVs?