Medium duty commercial trucks have seen sales gains in 2013, but heavy duty Class 8 vehicles have been down, according to Polk’s most recent data. Total new commercial vehicle (Class 3-8) were 379,000 units through the first eight months of 2013, up 2% from 371,700 – up in all segments except for Class 8, wich were down 8.5% during the eight-month period compared to the previous calendar year.
“While the outlook for the year started with a significant amount of optimism by most, it now appears that the 2013 calendar year new registrations will be only slightly better than the 2012 calendar year,” said Gary Meteer, director, aftermarket and commercial vehicle solutions at Polk.
Large fleets have been down in acquisitions this year. Fleets operating more than 500 vehicles were down 17.8% in Class 8 purchases during that time period. Small fleets – operating five or fewer units – accounted for 11.7% of new Class 8 vehicles this year. That’s an increase by 20.5% during the first eight months of 2013.
There are still quite a few older trucks on US highways, which has created a robust market for commercial parts and service. There are more than 11.7 million Class 3-8 vehicles operating on US highways. Nearly 38% of them were built prior to the 2000 model year. The trucks range in numbers from a high of 46.6% in Class 6 to a low of 30.8% of the older models in Class 5.
