U.S. sales of Class 8 trucks "plummeted" in June by nearly a third — 30.4% — compared with sales in June 2015, Ward's Auto reports, and sales are down for other classes as well. It's a similar story for sales in Canada.
So far this year, Class 8 sales in the U.S. are down 15.5% vs. sales for the half-year point in 2015. In the class, International lost the most ground, with year-over-year sales down 55.3%, according to Ward's Auto. Others with notable declines were Freightliner (-31.1%), Kenworth (-29.4%), Volvo (-27.6%) and Peterbilt (-23.6%).
Class 7 fared better in U.S. sales: the segment was down the least of any at only 1.7% below sales a year ago. Freightliner gained 3.0% share for a total of 47.0%, Ward's Auto reports, while Kenworth saw 25.3% higher sales compared with June 2015. Class 6 wasn't far behind and was down only 2.1% vs. sales the prior year. Ford gained a big 32.8% and claimed 32.5% of total sales, not quite as high as Freightliner's 32.8% share — but that brand's sales were down 4.7% compared with a year ago.
Class 5 truck sales in the U.S. picked up somewhat with a 3.4% gain vs. June 2015 sales. There were some big shifts in Class 4 sales, however, according to Ward's Auto: with a year-over-year 20.5% decline for the class, Isuzu and Mitsubishi Fuso were down 50.1% and 69.4%, respectively, while Hino sales leapt 146.7%.
In Canada, Class 8 sales fell less compared with a year ago than they did in the United States but are down more for year-to-date totals, Ward's Auto reports. Sales declined by 26.2% in June 2016 vs. the year before, and Class 8 sales so far this year are down by 22.1%. All brands were down by double-digit percentages in June except for Western Star, which saw a 2.0% gain in year-over-year sales.
Smaller class truck sales were down for Canada as well, according to Ward's Auto. Class 7 sales fell 15.6%, Class 6 sales lost a more sizeable 42.3%, Class 5 sales were down 22.3% and Class 4 sales lost 8.1% compared with sales a year ago.
Read more from Ward's Auto on U.S. truck sales here and Canadian truck sales here.