New commercial vehicle registrations increased 8.3 percent for Class 3-8 vehicles in comparison to the same period last year.
This year’s first quarter ended March 31 with 143,245 new registrations in this category, contrasted with 132,272 vehicles registered during 2013’s first quarter, reported IHS Automotive. Still, this segment indicated a 3 percent drop when Q1 2014 was ranked against Q4 2013, according to the automotive market data company.
Class 4 underwent 14.5 percent growth, the largest year-over-year increase for all weight divisions, followed by a 9.2 percent hike for Class 8. The lowest year-over-year growth was 7.5 percent for Class 3 and 2 percent for Class 7.
Diesel overwhelmingly remained the fuel of choice, retaining a 77.5 percent market share.
Still, factory installation of compressed natural gas engines jumped. During Q1 2014, 1,702 CNG engines were installed, a 116.3 percent leap from Q1 2013.
By March 31, 11,901,000 commercial vehicles were registered for on-highway use, or 51,000 more than tallied for Q4 2013. Class 3 and 8 vehicles were primarily responsible for the hike.
