Even though January’s orders failed to match December’s near-record order intake, demand for new Class 5-8 vehicles in the North American market remained elevated during the month, according to ACT Research. For the month, preliminary data indicates that 53,200 North American Class 5-8 vehicle net orders were booked (±5%). ACT noted that volume represents a decline of 21% from December but also a 5% improvement year-over-year. While orders moderated to their lowest volume since September, January’s orders represent a 638,400 unit annualized order placement rate. Actual numbers will be released mid-February, said ACT.
“After three consecutive months in which Class 8 orders rose above 40,000 units, January’s Class 8 order intake of 35,400 units appears pedestrian,” said Kenny Vieth, ACT’s president and senior analyst. “However, while October-December represent the three strongest months cycle-to-date, January orders tilt the scale at a respectable fifth best, and are closely aligned with the six-month order trend.”
“Similar to Class 8, January’s medium duty orders don’t live up to the strong Q4 pace, but rise above year-ago activity,” continued Vieth. “At 17,800 units in January, Class 5-7 orders rose 11% compared to year-ago levels, but fell 22% from December’s second best month of the cycle order volume. January’s medium-duty orders fell slightly below build expectations, suggesting that backlogs are likely to be 1,000 to 2,000 units lower when the complete data set is compiled mid-month in ACT’s SOI: Classes 5-8 Vehicles report.”
For more information on ACT, go to www.actresearch.net.
