Rolled out to the media in late January, the new medium-duty MD Series of trucks was publicly revealed for the first time on March 4 in Indianapolis at the NTEA’s 2020 Work Truck Show.

The MD Series consists of the MD6, a Class 6 model, with a GVWR of 25,995 pounds, and the MD7, a Class 7 model, with a GVWR of 33,000 pounds.

“Mack is extremely proud to reach even more customers through our medium-duty Mack MD6 and MD7 models,” said Jonathan Randall, Mack Trucks’ senior vice president of North American sales and marketing, at a media briefing on the show floor.

“With these trucks, Mack now offers a complete lineup of Class 6 to 8 vehicles,” he continued. “The Mack MD Series will enable us to meet the needs of those customers desiring Mack’s legendary durability in a lighter-weight GVWR configuration.”

HDT’s full report on the recent introduction of the MD Series can be read here. Also in conjunction with the show, Allison Transmission announced that its 2500 transmission will be the standard transmission.

At the WTS briefing, Randall said that while full production of the medium-duties will begin at Mack’s new assembly plant near Roanoke, Virginia, in July, the truck maker started accepting orders two weeks ago.

Turning to the overall commercial truck market, Randall gave his forecast of North American truck sales for 2020: 240,000 units. “Historically,” he pointed out, “that’s still a pretty strong market; it’s a reversion to the mean.

“We’re still bullish on this market,” Randall continued. “For us, it’s just a shift in the product mix [that will raise sales figures].” He explained that while last year, 48% to 49% of new truck registrations were for linehaul models vs. work trucks, this year that percentage is down around 42% or $43%, which is “in favor of work trucks,” historically Mack’s bread-and-butter product.

“We’ve got the best-looking iron on the road,” he added, “and we’ll continue to do things to benefit our customers’ bottom line, including keeping our focus on application excellence and bringing out new products.”