July Class 8 Continues to Soften, Medium Duty Demand On Track
For the month of July, on a preliminary basis, 25,000 new Classes 5-8 vehicle orders were booked. Of those, Class 8 garnered 10,500 orders and for Classes 5-7, 14,500 orders were placed.
“In line with the two-speed U.S. economy of healthy consumers and weak industrial activity, the two-speed commercial vehicle story continued to unfold in July,” said Kenny Vieth, ACT’s President & Senior Analyst. “Medium duty orders remained on trend, while Class 8 orders continued to soften.”
Vieth said that some of the softness is related to seasonality; through the course of the year, the July-September period marks the low ebb for Classes 5-8 vehicle orders. “Seasonally adjusted, the aggregate order volume for Classes 5-8 was 29,200; however, July’s demand was nevertheless the lowest monthly volume, actual or seasonally adjusted, since September 2010.”