The demand for new heavy- and medium-duty commercial vehicles is expected to be off around 45 percent for the full year 2009 and remain at weak levels through the first half of 2010, according to ACT Research Co.
In the latest release of the North American Commercial Vehicle Outlook, ACT projects that Class 8 truck production will show only modest improvement through the first half of next year before rebounding in the second half. Medium-duty trucks (Classes 4–7) are expected to take a similar trend, although not as strong as the heavy-duty segment.
“The combination of overcapacity and slim profits in trucking will be enough to keep many companies on the sidelines for the next several quarters,” said Kenny Vieth, partner and senior analyst with ACT Research. “However, an aging fleet and pent-up replacement demand will begin to positively influence orders in the second half of 2010.”
For more information on ACT, please go to http://www.actresearch.net/.