After an unexpected rally in Q1, 2017, ACT Research reports North American medium- and heavy-duty Class 5-8 net orders moderated in the second quarter. While orders were lower quarter-over-quarter, year-over-year comparisons are positive by a wide margin.
In June, total Class 5-8 net orders rose over 37 percent year-over-year to a seasonally adjusted 43,000 units. Class 8 orders rebounded to 18,100 in June, adding 1,200 units from May.
“While orders are weak relative to YTD activity, June’s orders were up 39 percent compared to last year,” says Kenny Vieth, president and senior analyst at ACT Research. “Because of a deep seasonal trend that runs through Class 8 orders, seasonal adjustment provides a significant boost to June’s orders. When adjusted, the June volume rises to 20,200 units.”
For all of Q2, Class 8 net orders were booked at a 251k SAAR, versus a 268k SAAR in Q1 2017, ACT says.
For all of Q2, and sticking with seasonally adjusted figures, North American Class 5-7 net orders totaled 126,550 units/506k SAAR, an increase of 28 percent from the comparable quarter in 2016, but down 6.5 percent from Q1 2017 order rate. ACT says preliminarily Class 5-7 orders moderated from May, slipping 1,500 units to 20,200 units in June.
“Seasonal adjustment boosts June’s medium-duty order volume to 22,700 units, roughly in-line with May’s seasonally adjusted tally (22,800),” says Vieth. “Benefitting from a particularly easy comp, Class 5-7 orders were up 34 percent compared to last June’s order intake. In the second quarter, Class 5-7 orders were booked at a 255,000 SAAR, down from a 274k SAAR in Q1.”
Note that these numbers are preliminary. Complete industry data for June, including final order numbers, will be published in mid-July, ACT says.
