Class 8 truck sales show strong growth in January

February 17, 2023

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Retail sales of Class 7 and Class 8 trucks are trending up.

Year-on-year sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks began 2023 strong with 36,475 units sold, according to Wards Intelligence, a research and analytics company based in Southfield, Mich.

Heavy-duty Class 8 rigs, which accounted for most big-truck deliveries in January, rose 34.3% to 19,932 units from 14,844 in January 2022.

Nearly all Class 8 (commercial vehicles weighing more than 33,001 pounds) truck manufacturers reported increases. Daimler ranked at the top, having sold 43.2% more trucks in January compared to the same month last year. Paccar ranked second with a 32.1% increase.

Class 7 (commercial vehicles weighing 26,001 to 33,000 pounds) truck sales rose 41.6% in January over January 2022.

Sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks totaled 36,475 units in January, up 18.6% from 30,761 in January 2022.

Class 6 (medium-duty commercial trucks with gross vehicle weight of 19,501 to 26,000 pounds, including single-axle and beverage trucks,) showed the second-highest gain among all commercial truck classes.

Freightliner took the lead from Ford in Class 6 truck sales.

Ford was the lead seller in January 2022, but in January 2023 it reported a 22.6% dip from the previous year. Freightliner, on the other hand, had a sales increase of 95.9% year-over-year.

Sales of Class 5 trucks (medium-duty, 16001 to 19,500 pounds) were up 32.1% in January 2023 to 5,769 units from 4,368 in January 2022.

In total, medium-duty trucks – Classes 4-7 – were up 3.9% year-over-year to 16,543 units from 15,917. LL