The volume increase can be seen in the wholesales sleeper tractor market, where J.D. Power reports pricing in its benchmark model decreased 2.8 percent overall for MY 2011 to 2013 tractors, slightly above expectations but much less dramatic than May’s drop. Regarding those years, MY 2013 tractors were down 0.1 percent, MY 2012 was down 6.8 percent and MY 2011 was down 1.7 percent.
Looking at the first half of 2017 as a whole, J.D. Power says MY 2011 tractors were down 3.7 percent per month, while MY 2012 and 2013 slipped by 1.8 and 1.0 percent, respectively.
“We did not consider May’s atypical results particularly notable, since monthly fluctuations are not unusual,” J.D. Power writes. “June’s results were closer to the longer-term trend, and we continue to view the auction market as firming.”
Sales were even stronger in the retail sleeper market, where final totals for May showed the average sleeper tractor sold was 72 months old, had 448,696 miles and brought $48,929. Compared to April, J.D. Power says those trucks were two months newer, had nearly 4,000 fewer miles and brought $460 more.
Looking at 3- to 5-year-old trucks as a cohort, J.D. Power says retail selling prices have dropped just 1.7 percent per month thus far in 2017, well better than the 2.4 percent rate during the same period in 2016.
On a brand-by-brand basis, J.D. Power points to the Peterbilt 579, Kenworth T680, Volvo VNL 730/780 and Freightliner Cascadia as models that “continue to outperform the market average.”
The medium-duty market wasn’t as strong in this month’s report, J.D. Power says.
With Class 3-4 cabovers, the average pricing in May was $16,869, down $629 from April but 14.4 percent ($2,118) higher than the same point last year. The conventional market retracted during the same period, and J.D. Power says Class 4 and Class 6 conventional prices both dropped by more than 10 percent from April.
Overall, J.D. Power says June’s results “show a return to the expected trend in the retail and wholesale channels. Pricing continues to flatten out. Dealers should be seeing incrementally improved conditions compared to this time last year.”
To read this month’s report in its entirety, please CLICK HERE.
