Canadian Big-Truck May Sales Surge 30.1%

Canada’s medium- and heavy-duty truck deliveries in May slipped from April’s 38.1% gain but maintained their positive momentum, climbing 30.1%, WardsAuto data shows.

Heavy-duty sales saw the biggest jump for the month, up 38.7% on the strength of increases at all manufacturers except International, down 2.2%.

Volvo Truck ruled among Class 8’s gainers, with deliveries surging 78.7%.

Medium-duty sales climbed 14.0%, as the group loss suffered by Class 6 minimized increases in Classes 4, 5 and 7.

Class 7’s 14.0% hike was due to gains by most manufacturers. PACCAR’s Peterbilt led with deliveries surging 53.8%. Daimler’s Freightliner, down 17.5%, was the only brand to see a loss.

In Class 6, International’s year-ago volume was halved, the primary reason for the sector’s 24.7% falloff in May. All other manufacturers saw increases, including Ford, up 823.1% on minor volume.

Class 5 sales grew 26.6% last month, compared with year-ago, with both domestic and imported models posting gains. Mitsubishi Fuso was a major contributor, with imported truck deliveries climbing 113.0%. Hino was the leading brand in domestic sales growth, up 197.1%.

Class 4’s 33.0% rise was the second largest among all big-truck groups in Canada in May. Ford again was the volume leader, up 5.3% to 138 units, compared with 121 year-ago. Hino and Daimler posted triple-digit percentage increases on small volumes.

Sales of medium-and heavy-duty trucks in Canada through May were up 39.5% from prior-year to 18,688 units.

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