Medium-Duty Sales Continued to Climb in October

[kscarbel2]

Transport Topics  /  November 20, 2019

U.S. retail sales of medium-duty trucks rose 12.4% in October, led by strong gains in Class 6 vehicles, WardsAuto.com reported.

Sales overall reached 21,184 compared with 20,631 a year earlier, according to Wards.

Year-to-date sales climbed 7.1% to 210,930. In the 2018 period, they were 196,997.

Class 6 sales soared 30.3% to 7,803 compared with 5,988 a year earlier. Ford was tops, selling 2,601 trucks, or 33.3% of the total.

“I think the stronger Class 6 sales are the manifestation of the very strong order intake in 2018,” said one industry analyst. “My hunch is that most of the sales are to municipalities and construction end markets. From a volume perspective, Ford’s new product continues to be very well received.”

Ford Motor Co. undertook a complete refresh of its entire commercial vehicle lineup beginning in April 2018. Optional elements on these lines include adaptive cruise control, electronic stability control, lane departure warning and driver alert system. Telematics and data services are also available as is automatic emergency braking, according to the company.

Class 7 sales jumped 15.2% to 6,667 compared with 5,785 a year earlier.

Freightliner, a unit of Daimler Trucks North America, sold the most, 2,475, or 37.1% of the total.

Sales of Class 4 through Class 5 trucks slipped 1.5% to 8,714 compared with 8,858 in the 2018 period.

“I am not quite certain what to make of the slowing in the Class 4 and 5 market. There is some shifting of share, but nothing that suggests what end markets might be responsible for the softness,” he said.

In related news, Mitsubishi Fuso, whose major shareholder is Daimler AG, announced it recently began shipping its FE180 gasoline fueled cabover Class 5 work truck to dealerships in the United States and Canada, and described the truck as an industry first, given its fuel.

He called the truck an interesting move.

“Medium-duty buyers are subtly shying away from diesel and selective catalytic reduction in favor of less expensive, simpler gasoline. It removes a hurdle for any truck maker. It is also an interesting play for those who hope to play well in the California Air Resources Board market,” with its strong emissions-control regulations, he said.

Justin Palmer, CEO of Mitsubishi Fuso Truck of North America Inc., said: “We’ve listened to our customers and answered their request for a less complex powertrain enabling them to focus their attention on their business, not their truck.”

[Red Horse]

“Medium-duty buyers are subtly shying away from diesel and selective catalytic reduction in favor of less expensive, simpler gasoline. It removes a hurdle for any truck maker. It is also an interesting play for those who hope to play well in the California Air Resources Board market,” with its strong emissions-control regulations, he said.

Further evidence that the Ford 7.3 should be a home run.  And I understand it is priced at about a 1700 to 2000 premium vs a 10,000 premium for the Power Stroke in an F- 350

[TS7]

Did I read this right Ford sold 2601 class 6, Freightliner 2475 class 7? Somebody is doing something right at Ford. Henry Ford II is happy.

[kscarbel2]

1 hour ago, TS7 said:

Did I read this right Ford sold 2601 class 6, Freightliner 2475 class 7? Somebody is doing something right at Ford. Henry Ford II is happy.

Which means if Ford had a serious Class 7 contender........with available Cummins/Allison drivetrains, Ford could get a serious share of the municipal and power company business.

[Maxidyne]

I go back and forth on this- The Ford powertrain is perfectly adequate for most buyers needs. But a lot of buyers have more confidence in Cummins and Allison, so Ford should give the buyers what they want.

[TS7]

I still think Ford needs a true medium duty truck cab and more powertrain choices. My point is that there are some people in Dearborn and some dealers who are doing pretty good with what they have. The M2 is a better truck, but Ford seems to be keeping up with it. Ford needs to get more serious about medium-duty, I think there are some people at Ford and some dealers who could make that happen if Ford let them. Henry Ford II would, he must have been ok with L-series and KTP.