In the commercial truck market, the sales have shifted to used vehicles.
There were 354,400 used commercial vehicles registered in the U.S. during the first two quarters of 2010. This is a new record for previously owned commercial vehicle registrations in the period, and up more than 28% during the same, depressed, time last year.
The used trucks – Gross Vehicle Weight classes 3 to 8 – represent almost 68% of the total commercial vehicle market.
“The significant increase in used vehicle registrations so far this year is indicative of an uptick in the industry with the changeover of the commercial fleet,” said Gary Meteer, director, sales and client services, at R. L. Polk & Company, which compiles such statistics.
The trend, if it holds, should eventually bode well for the economy as combined registrations for all commercial vehicles in the first half of 2010 were 524,700, representing a 19% increase over the same period last year. New commercial vehicle registrations saw just a slight increase of 3.1% during the period, though, reflecting the reluctance of businesses to invest in the faltering U.S. economy, and concentrating instead on cost cutting and layoffs during the ongoing Great Recession.
“Large fleet owners and operators are upgrading to new vehicles, and therefore the smaller fleet companies and independent owner-operators have great opportunities to find available clean used equipment,” Meteer claimed.
Polk’s latest Commercial Vehicle Market Intelligence Report includes these findings along with other market highlights, including new commercial vehicle registration information, geographical registrations and a look at aftermarket component demand, which in theory helps aftermarket and original equipment component suppliers plan inventory for replacement parts.
Polk has been providing commercial vehicle data to the industry for decades and began first reporting used versus new registration information in 2004. This is the first year registrations of used commercial vehicles have seen such significant growth. The uptick in the used market signifies a large opportunity for aftermarket parts manufacturers and suppliers that rely on the commercial repair and replacement business, according to Polk.