Retail truck sales post strong gains
Retail sales of medium and heavy duty trucks were up sharply in October, according to figures compiled by Wards Communications.
Truck dealers sold 426,591 trucks during the month, up 18% from September. Of those, 30,459 had gross vehicle ratings above 10,000 pounds, 11% more than were posted during September.
Despite the strong performance relative to the previous month, truck sales in October remained below year-earlier levels. While light-duty trucks were off only 1% from October 2008, those above 10,000 pounds GVWR finished the month down 11% when compared with October 2008.
Retail truck sales
October 2009
| Oct 2009 | Sept 2009 | Change | Oct 2008 | Change | First 10 months 2009 | First 10 months 2008 | Change | |
| Class 1 | 276,785 | 234,650 | 18% | 266,899 | 4% | 2,898,130 | 3,795,290 | -24% |
| Class 2 | 119,347 | 100,661 | 19% | 128,476 | -7% | 1,074,342 | 1,618,122 | -34% |
| Class 3 | 12,208 | 10,493 | 16% | 9,770 | 25% | 89,489 | 115,524 | -23% |
| Class 4 | 1,574 | 1,411 | 12% | 2,380 | -34% | 16,047 | 31,590 | -49% |
| Class 5 | 2,088 | 1,813 | 15% | 2,925 | -29% | 19,054 | 34,679 | -45% |
| Class 6 | 2,296 | 2,000 | 15% | 2,701 | -15% | 18,353 | 34,240 | -46% |
| Class 7 | 3,793 | 3,428 | 11% | 4,355 | -13% | 32,542 | 42,658 | -24% |
| Class 8 | 8,500 | 7,769 | 9% | 12,073 | -30% | 74,380 | 110,128 | -32% |
| Total | 426,591 | 362,225 | 18% | 429,579 | -1% | 4,222,337 | 5,782,231 | -27% |