North America Medium- and Heavy-Duty Truck Orders up 37% from Last Year

After an unexpected rally in Q1, 2017, North American medium-duty (MD) and heavy-duty (HD) Classes 5-8 net orders moderated in the second quarter. While orders were lower quarter-over-quarter, year-over-year comparisons are positive by a wide margin. In June, total Classes 5-8 net orders rose over 37% year-over-year to a seasonally adjusted 43,000 units. For all of Q2, and sticking with seasonally adjusted figures, NA Classes 5-7 net orders totaled 126,550 units/506k SAAR, an increase of 28% from the comparable quarter in 2016, but down 6.5% from Q1 2017 order rate. Note that these numbers are preliminary. Complete industry data for June, including final order numbers, will be published in mid-July.

Class 8 orders rebounded to 18,100 in June, adding 1,200 units from May. “While orders are weak relative to YTD activity, June’s orders were up 39% compared to last year,” says Kenny Vieth, President and Senior Analyst at ACT Research. He continues, “Because of a deep seasonal trend that runs through Class 8 orders, seasonal adjustment provides a significant boost to June’s orders. When adjusted, the June volume rises to 20,200 units.” For all of Q2, Class 8 net orders were booked at a 251k SAAR, versus a 268k SAAR in Q1’17.

Preliminarily NA Classes 5-7 orders moderated from May, slipping 1,500 units to 20,200 units in June. “Seasonal adjustment boosts June’s MD order volume to 22,700 units, roughly in line with May’s seasonally adjusted tally (22.8k),” says Vieth. “Benefitting from a particularly easy comp, NA Classes 5-7 orders were up 34% compared to last June’s order intake. In the second quarter, Classes 5-7 orders were booked at a 255k SAAR, down from a 274k SAAR in Q1,” he concludes.