Medium and heavy truck sales were down 1% in December over the same period a year ago and down 5% for 2016, according to figures compiled by Wards Communications.
Dealers sold 70,771 trucks with GVW ratings above 10,000 pounds during the month, down from December 2015 (71,482) but up 29% from November 2016 (54,907). For the year, sales were 696,425, down from 732,092 in 2016.
Compared with December 2015, Class 8 trucks were down 25% (15,629, compared to 20,773). Class 7 sales were 4,810, down 7% from 5,188.
For the year, Class 8 sales were 192,664, a 23% decrease from last year (248,804). Class 7 sales were up 2% (59,917, compared to 58,888).
Total sales of all classes were up 7%, from 10,310,482 to 10,992,291.
Every class was up for the year. The biggest increase was in Class 6 (11%, from 55,118 to 61,287), followed by Class 1 (8%, from 7,161,468 to 7,724,248).
