Combined new and used Class 3-8 commercial vehicle registrations were up 5% in the first quarter to 319,045 units.

According to recent analysis from IHS Automotive, new registrations were up during the first quarter 8.3% year-over-year and used transactions were up 2.4% from the first quarter of the 2013. While combined year-over-year commercial vehicle registrations rose from the first quarter of the 2013, the combined unit volume trend over the past 13 quarters has been relatively flat at an average unit volume of 312,000 units.

Used commercial vehicle transactions during first quarter 2014 totaled 175,800 units, representing the highest Q1 level since the first quarter of 2011. In the quarter, used transactions accounted for 55.1% of total registrations and continued the five-year quarterly trend in which used transactions outnumbered new transactions.

The demand for clean Class 8 vehicles remains strong, as these transactions accounted for 39.7% of used registrations and were 3.5 percent better than the first quarter of the 2013 calendar year. 

“Our analysis continues to reflect strong demand for clean used equipment, especially Class 8 vehicles, which are replacing significantly older models in the vehicle population,” said Gary Meteer, director, commercial vehicle solutions at IHS Automotive. “As recently as the end of the 2012, 38% of all Class 8 vehicles in operation in the U.S. were model-year 2000 or older. At the end of March 2014, that category of vehicles represented just 34.2% of the total Class 8 population.”

First Quarter 2014 Used Vehicle Transactions

Vehicle
Class Jan-Mar/14
(000's)         Jan-Mar/13
(000's)       % change
2014 vs. 2013 Jan-Mar/14
Class % of total    Jan-Mar/13
Class % of total    Class 3  53.2 52.1 2.0 30.1 30.4 Class 4  16.2 15.3 5.8 9.1 8.8 Class 5  8.7 8.8 -1.3 5.1 5.3 Class 6  13.9 14.7 -5.0 8.0 8.8 Class 7  14.2 13.5 4.9 8.0 7.6 Class 8 69.6 67.3 3.5 39.7 39.1 Total 175.8 171.7 2.4 100 100

Source: IHS Automotive, Polk Used Commercial Vehicle Transactions

New Commercial Vehicle Registrations Increase 8.3 Percent

New registrations of 143,245 units in first quarter 2014 calendar year were up 8.3% from the same quarter in 2013, but declined from the last quarter of 2013. 

“When we analyze the quarter-to- quarter movement, our analysis indicates that new registrations for all classes of commercial vehicles have been relatively flat since mid-2011,” Meteer said. “Following the bottoming of the market in 2009, there was the expected surge in demand. However, since mid-2012, demand appears to have settled into a relatively flat unit range. Our analysis indicates that the demand for commercial vehicles represents primarily replacement demand with little strong news to drive companies into an overall expansion mode.”

New registrations by GVW are as follows:

Overall New Commercial Vehicle Registrations by Calendar Year Quarter

  2006        2009       2010       2011       2012       2013       2014       Q1 196749 87292 65606 102406 135551 132272 143245 Q2 215347 79116 94420 116281 135786 144307   Q3 211262 81606 97638 125317 143915 152872   Q4 181984 81594 97932 127247 136212 147657   Total 805342 329608 375596 471251 551464 577108  

Source: IHS Automotive, Polk 2006-14 new commercial vehicle registration data.

A complete copy of the 2014 First Quarter Commercial Vehicle Report is available here.