FTR Associates said Tuesday, Oct. 5, that preliminary data shows September Class 8 truck total net orders for all major North American OEMs at 14,872 units, a 21.6 percent increase over the previous month and 38.8 percent better than September 2009. Net order activity for the six-month period including September annualizes to 163,100 units. The figure includes the United States, Canada, Mexico and exports.
“Net orders for September came in about where we expected, and while better than August, aren’t indicative of any significant shift in fleet buying plans that would result in strong growth next year,’ says Eric Starks, president of FTR. “We’ll closely watch the next two months because they are typically the strongest in the seasonal cycle. If orders don’t come in at close to 20,000 in October and higher in November, that will be evidence in our view that many fleets will continue to sit on the sidelines until they are more comfortable of a sustained economic recovery.”
Final data for September will be available from FTR later this month as part of its North American Commercial Truck & Trailer Outlook service.
