For the month of October, 47,200 Class 5-8 vehicle orders were booked, up 14% from September but down 30% compared to the robust net orders in October 2014, according to ACT Research. Actual numbers will be published in mid-November.
At 25,200 units in October, Class 8 net orders fell 45% short of year-ago October’s 46,000 orders. Said Kenny Vieth, ACT’s President and Senior Analyst, “Remember that October 2014 was the second-best ever Class 8 order month, so the year-over-year comparison was a tough one. Likewise, the 6,000-unit sequential gain from September to October of this year can be explained by seasonality. When seasonally adjusted, preliminary Class 8 net orders were down 3% from September.”
Class 5-7 net orders continued strong in October. For the month, medium-duty vehicle net orders were 22,000 units.
“Despite tough comparisons, down 1.8% year-over-year and 0.3% month-over-month, both are within the margin of error for preliminary industry data,” said Vieth. Because October is historically the year’s strongest month for medium-duty orders, seasonal adjustment lowers October’s net order volume to 19,300 units.