Class 8 Truck Sales Lose More Ground to Previous Year
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U.S. Class 8 retail sales in February tallied below the year-ago level, continuing an early trend for 2025, according to data from Wards Intelligence.
Sales decreased 10.7% to 15,725 units from 17,619 during the same time in 2024Ěýand also fell 2.8% from the 16,175 units reported in January. Year to date, Class 8 sales are down 11.8% to 31,948 units from 36,211.
The results continued a trend of unfavorable year-over-year comparisons that has gone on for more than 12 months with few exceptions.
“Sometimes I characterize changes by the color of the ink, and there seems to be an awful lot of red ink,” ACT Research Vice President Steve Tam said. “I don’t know if people are getting increasingly nervous, or if they’re just kind of paralyzed by everything that’s happening right now. By that, specifically, I’m referring to trade actions, policy actions, executive orders and just all the disruptions that seem to be emanating out of our nation’s capital, unfortunately.”
Tam noted that the sequential decline was relatively small with the expectation being closer to a 15% to 20% drop. He views that as a possible indication that there are potential buyers who aren’t completely convinced they need a truck or they’re hesitant to close a transaction.
“Looking at the data, even taking seasonality into account, it’s not a bad picture; you’re looking at about 225,000 units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate for the U.S. market,” Tam said. “That’s still pretty robust, so from that perspective, where we are is not a bad place. It’s just, I think, where we’re headed is the challenge. We’ve cut our forecasts pretty significantly, and it’s predominantly to reflect or to send a message about regulatory changes in the industry.”
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The Environmental Protection Agency reopened its greenhouse gas emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles rules and its truck nitrogen oxide rule as part of a sweeping review of federal regulations being pursued by President Donald Trump.
“The conversation and the results of that work carry the ability to have a pretty significant impact on the industry,” Tam said. “It was kind of a double-edged sword. Obviously, these trucks are going to be more expensive and that’s not necessarily good for the people that use them or the people who buy the products that they’re hauling … because somebody is going to have to pay for it. But at the same time, we put those regulations in place for a reason, and it’s to try to clean up the environment. So it’s not a zero-sum game by any stretch of imagination.”
Tam pointed out that the truck manufacturers have invested a lot of time and money to develop engines that are compliant with these rules. Now that might change, leaving them with more expensive engines that customers wouldn’t even be required to buy. Because of that, he doesn’t see an upside to volume in his forecast. Instead, the data is mostly indicating downside risks. This means volume is not likely to turn around in the foreseeable future.
Freightliner, a brand of Daimler Truck North America, claimed the largest market share for the month with 5,564 trucks sold, accounting for 35.4% of all sales. That result also marked a 7.7% decline from 6,027 in January 2024. Western Star, another DTNA brand, saw February sales decline 3.7% to 784 units from 814.
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“While the Class 8 market continues to navigate through cyclical freight challenges affecting tractor demand, we’re encouraged by the resilience we’re seeing in the straight truck segment,” said Jonathan Randall, president of Mack Trucks North America. “Strong government and business investment are driving consistent demand in this area, which demonstrates the underlying strength of the commercial vehicle market. At Mack Trucks, we remain focused on delivering value to our customers through innovative solutions that position them for success.”
Mack Trucks reported the largest year-over-year increase at 11.4% to 1,230 units from 1,104. Volvo Trucks North America saw sales decrease 40.8% to 1,268 units from 2,142 last year. Mack and VTNA are brands of Volvo Group.
International Motors sales inched down 2.9% to 1,772 from 1,825; Peterbilt Motors Co. sales declined 13% to 2,537 units from 2,916 and Kenworth Truck Co. sales dropped 8.2% to 2,562 from 2,791. Peterbilt and Kenworth are Paccar Inc. brands.
