ACT Research reported Tuesday preliminary North America Classes 5-8 net order data shows the industry booked more than 70,000 units last month.
The huge month was only the fourth time on record but second time this quarter that “medium- and heavy-duty orders combined to exceed 70,000 units in a month, as activity in both the medium- and heavy-duty vehicle markets remained strong,” says Kenny Vieth, president and senior analyst at ACT Research. “Our preliminary look at North American Classes 5-8 net orders for March show that orders rose 55 percent year-over-year, 11 percent above February’s order intake.”
In the Class 8 market, specifically, Vieth says orders “more than doubled their year-ago volume, rising to 46,900 units — the third consecutive month in which Class 8 orders came in above 40,000 units. And, all this before the ELD mandate was fully implemented.”
In the medium-duty space, ACT Research says March orders capped the best Classes 5-7 order quarter since the first quarter of 2006, when the industry was in the throes of EPA 2007 prebuying. “As March is traditionally the strongest month of the year for medium-duty orders, seasonal adjustment takes a bite out of the month’s intake, dropping the relative volume to 23,100 units,” Vieth says.
ACT adds complete industry data for March, including final order numbers, will be published in mid-April.
