Mack raised its forecast for total Class 8 production in 2017 to 235,000 units from its previous prediction of 225,000 units made at the start of the year.
“And we believe it will be significantly higher for 2018,” said Jonathan Randall, senior vice president of sales for Mack Trucks North America during a press event at ATA’s Management Conference & Exhibition.
Randall provided an updated “market outlook” as the OEM prepares to “close out” 2017:
• Year-to-date Class 8 retail sales for Mack in the U.S. and Canada indicate the OEM is maintaining market share of 8.5%.
• Randall said demand is already high for Mack’s new Anthem tractor, which goes into full production in the first quarter of 2018. “Order intake for the Anthem has already outpaced what we sold [for its other Class 8 models] for the [2017] calendar year; we’re already way ahead,” he noted.
• Increasing freight volume and rates point to a shift back to demand for more “long-haul” models, Randall pointed out, with the long-haul segment “returning” to its traditional 45% to 46% share of the Class 8 tractor market.
• No one particular segment of long-haul – dry van, refrigerated, etc. – will drive that resurgence, he added: “We just see broad general growth occurring for the long-haul segment.”
• Yet Randall also noted that growth in the regional segment and for daycab tractors, particularly for “last mile” operations, will probably experience larger rate of growth as a percentage figure when compared to the long-haul sector.
• Despite its new focus on the long-haul market, Randall stressed that Mack remains “committed to defend” the OEM’s core business in the construction, refuse, and regional segments.