June preliminary North America Classes 5-8 net orders of 21.3k units declined 39% y/y. Complete industry data for June, including final order numbers, will be published by ACT Research in mid-July.
“Publicly traded for-hire fleets ended Q1’25 with the weakest net income margins since Q1’10. Private fleets have spent the past two years adding fleet capacity and have little need for additional supply. On the vocational side, worsening housing and construction markets and regulation uncertainty has sapped strength that looked all but certain at the beginning of the year,” shared Carter Vieth, Research Analyst at ACT Research. He continued, “With that in mind, preliminary Class 8 orders totaled 9,400 units, down 36% y/y.”
Regarding medium duty, he added, “Economic uncertainty and higher prices continued to weigh on MD Classes 5-7 demand last month. Preliminary June NA Classes 5-7 orders fell 42% y/y to 11,900 units, the weakest net order tally since the pandemic, surpassing April's ‘Liberation Day’ impacted orders, for the ‘lowest-since’ designation.”
State of the Industry: NA Classes 5-8 Report Overview
ACT’s State of the Industry: NA Classes 5-8 report provides a monthly look at the current production, sales, and general state of the on-road heavy and medium duty commercial vehicle markets in North America. It differentiates market indicators by Class 5, Classes 6-7 chassis and Class 8 trucks and tractors, detailing measures such as backlog, build, inventory, new orders, cancellations, net orders, and retail sales. Additionally, Class 5 and Classes 6-7 are segmented by trucks, buses, RVs, and step van configurations, while Class 8 is segmented by trucks and tractors with and without sleeper cabs. This report includes a six-month industry build plan, backlog timing analysis, historical data from 1996 to the present in spreadsheet format, and a ready-to-use graph package. A first-look at preliminary net orders is also published in conjunction with this report.
ACT Research Overview
ACT Research is recognized as the leading publisher of commercial vehicle truck, trailer, and bus industry data, market analysis and forecasts for the North America and China markets. ACT’s analytical services are used by all major North American truck and trailer manufacturers and their suppliers, as well as banking and investment companies. ACT Research is a contributor to the Blue Chip Economic Indicators and a member of the Wall Street Journal Economic Forecast Panel. ACT Research executives have received peer recognition, including election to the Board of Directors of the National Association for Business Economics, appointment as Consulting Economist to the National Private Truck Council, and the Lawrence R. Klein Award for Blue Chip Economic Indicators’ Most Accurate Economic Forecast over a four-year period. ACT Research senior staff members have earned accolades including Chicago Federal Reserve Automotive Outlook Symposium Best Overall Forecast, Wall Street Journal Top Economic Outlook, and USA Today Top 10 Economic Forecasters. More information can be found at www.actresearch.net.
Additional Resources
Final North American Class 8 net orders totaled 13k units in May, down 45% y/y, as published in ACT Research’s latest State of the Industry: NA Classes 5-8 report.
“Entering the weakest period seasonally for new business, Class 8 orders continued to decline in May, as weak fundamentals and broad uncertainty pressure demand,” according to Carter Vieth, Research Analyst at ACT Research. “Unsurprisingly, tractor orders fell 43% y/y, to 8,439 units. Vocational truck orders fell 48% y/y, totaling 4,584 units,” he continued.
Regarding medium duty, Vieth added, “Total Classes 5-7 orders fell 27% y/y to 14,264 units. MD orders have slowed across the past six months, as current bloated inventories and a weaker economic outlook weigh on new orders.”
Class 8:
Net Orders: 13k, -45% y/y
Tractor Orders: 8.4k, -43% y/y
Vocational Truck Orders: 4.6k, -48% y/y
Classes 5-7:
Net Orders: 14.2k, -27% y/y
Click here to learn more information about ACT's State of the Industry: NA Classes 5-8 Vehicles data.
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