Commercial truck sales in 2023 topped half a million units for the first time since 2019, the American Truck Dealers (ATD) reported this month in its most recent ATD Truck Beat.
ATD says sales totaled 507,277 in 2023, up 7.6% from 2022. Sales of medium-duty trucks reached 240,525 in 2023, up 10.8% year over year. And heavy-duty truck sales totaled 266,752 in 2023, an increase of 5% from 2022.
The strong total could have been even higher had the market not slowed in December. ATD says sales of heavy-duty trucks slowed this December compared with a year earlier, with Class 8 truck sales dropping by 19.8%. According to ACT Research, Class 8 orders in December ended the fourth quarter totaling 26,500, a decline of 12.5% year over year. Class 8 orders cooled in December following a solid month for them in November, when they posted their strongest year-over-year gain since October 2022.
Within the Class 8 space, International was the biggest winner with 2023's strong sales. The Illinois-based truck maker raised its market share by 1.4% year over year, to 13.9%. Freightliner remained the market leader at 36.5% of market share but was down 1.5% year over year.
[RELATED: Mack's Randall says 2024 truck sales could exceed expectations]
In the Classes 4-7 market, Ford (29.6%) and Freightliner (21.3%) remain the top two producers, though both were down year over year. Mack was the industry's big winner, as its recently released MD Series earned 2.3% market share.
