The American Truck Dealers (ATD) recently released its first quarter Truck Beat report.
According to ATD, commercial truck sales totaled 113,169 units through the first quarter of 2024, down 4.1% from first-quarter 2023. ATD says Class 8 trucks were the biggest culprit for the shift. In the first quarter, Class 8 sales fell by 14% year over year. Year over year, Class 8 sales declines in March 2024 followed declines in February. Even so, ATD says Class 8 truck sales in March were up 11.6% from the month before.
Additionally, medium-duty truck sales were a bright spot in the first quarter, totaling 57,307 through March and rising 8% year over year. Year over year, medium-duty truck sales have now increased for five straight months, ATD says.
[RELATED: Truck sales surpassed 500,000 units in 2023]
On a per OEM basis, Peterbilt was the biggest winner in the Class 8 market in the first quarter. ATD says Pete picked up 2.2% marketshare year to date in Q1. Kenworth also was up 1.5% percent, with Western Star adding 1.9% to rise to 4.5% of the total market. International was down 4.4% in the same period, with Freightliner behind at 1.9% down.
In Classes 4-7, Freightliner tumbled in the first quarter, down 10.1% year to date, while Ford was up 7.4% to move into the market leader at 30.7%.
Moving forward, in the Class 8 space, it is possible sales will remain below 2023 in the coming months. Class 8 orders tumbled in March, and the month's order count represented the first monthly count below 20,000 units since May 2023, reported ACT Research. ACT adds medium-duty truck orders are outperforming heavy-duty truck orders through the first quarter.
