Sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks in Canada declined for the ninth consecutive month, falling 0.4% from year-ago. Big trucks have not posted a gain since April 2013, when unit sales hit 3,762, WardsAuto data shows.
Class 8 deliveries for January inched up 1.4% on the strength of Volvo Truck, up 82.6%, and International, up 20.8%. These gains were tempered by PACCAR’s Kenworth and Peterbilt brands, posting a combined loss of 18.1%.
Volume-leader International, up 4.1% and Freightliner, up 18.2%, led Class 7 sales to a slight uptick of 1.9%. Hino, with sales sinking 23.9%, and Kenworth, down 7.1%, were the only decliners in the group.
Sales of Class 6 trucks fared the worst among all segments, as deliveries plunged 41.1%. Peterbilt witnessed the largest decrease, 71.4%, while International was not far behind with a loss of 65.1%. A 300% rise in Ford sales, albeit on small volume, was not enough to boost the segment into the black.
Class 5 deliveries fell 8.8% to 352 units from 386 in the same period last year. International witnessed the widest year-over-year disparity on a volume basis, with deliveries down 42.9% to 36 from 63. Class leader Ford sales slid 19.4% to 133 from 165 and Daimler brands were off 87.5%.
Class 4 enjoyed the best performance among all groups with sales up 43.4%. All manufacturers posted sales increases, with three of four recording triple-digit increases. Hino led the way, with deliveries up 225%, Isuzu import models were up 200% while their domestically produced trucks rose 140%.
