Despite weaker expectations for the month’s same dealer sales, used Class 8 volumes in April declined 8 percent month-over-month. Longer-term, volumes fell 5 percent compared with April 2019, but remained 10 percent above the first four months of last year, according to ACT Research’s preliminary release of the State of the Industry: U.S. Classes 3-8 Used Trucks.
Other data released in ACT’s preliminary report included month-over-month comparisons for April 2020, which showed that average prices were down 8 percent.
Compared with March 2020, last month’s average miles were flat and average age increased 2 percent compared. Year-to-date, average price, miles and age all were lower, down 20 percent, 2 percent and 5 percent, respectively, compared with the first four months of 2019, ACT reports.
“Our first reaction to the unit sales data was one of surprise that the market held up as well as it did in April,” says Steve Tam, ACT vice president.
“With the month’s sales being the first to be meaningfully impacted by COVID-19, many expected significant weakness,” Tam says. “One possible explanation is that buyers in search of inexpensive trucks helped support sales in the otherwise soft market.”
ACT’s Classes 3-8 Used Truck Report provides data on the average selling price, miles and age based on a sample of industry data. In addition, the report provides the average selling price for top-selling Class 8 models for each of the major truck OEMs.
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