Commercial truck sales fell 17 percent in the first quarter of 2020, following the industry’s second-best sales year of all time, NADA Senior Economist Patrick Manzi wrote in the American Truck Dealers (ATD) Truck Beat blog this week.
Class 8 truck sales during the first quarter were 47,582, a decline of 24.3 percent compared with the first quarter of 2019. In March, Class 8 sales totaled 16,477, a decline of 27.8 percent compared with the same period a year ago. Medium-duty sales declined 8.7 percent compared with the first quarter of 2019.
“Commercial truck sales were expected to decline in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the situation will likely increase the speed and extent of the decline,” writes Manzi. “Across the country there is significant inventory on dealer lots for those who need trucks immediately, although some states have enacted policies stopping sales or limiting them to delivery-only.”
Manzi writes several medium- and heavy-duty truck makers are offering enticing finance options to spur sales.
“We expect sales will continue to be down relative to 2019 for the rest of the year, although the extent of the decline is still unknown and depends on the duration of the economic shutdown,” he writes.
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