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% |