Truck customers placed orders for 16.900 new Classes 5-7 vehicles in August, according to preliminary figures compiled by ACT Research. Final August numbers will be published in mid-September.
“Moving past the seasonally soft early summer, Classes 5-7 orders rebounded to a three-month high 16,900 units in August,” said Kenny Vieth, ACT’s president and senior analyst.
Despite the increase, however, orders failed to reach year-ago levels for a third time in the past four months. They were down 5% from August 2015.
Vieth said that seasonal adjustment does not dispel the notion that demand for medium-duty trucks has moderated. Even so, net orders for Classes 5-7 are running 3% ahead of year-ago order levels through August. Year to date, Classes 5-7 net orders have been booked at an annualized rate just over 231,000 units (SA).