Commercial new vehicle registrations for Class 3-8 vehicles for the first half of 2011 were up 15.4% over the first half of last year, and 24.2% better than the first half of 2009, according to Polk. June 2011 new registrations were at the highest level seen during the past 18 months.


Registrations of 206,731 units for the first half of the year compared to 179,089 for the first half of 2010 and 166,455 in the first half of the 2009 Calendar Year. The recovery from the low level of new registrations seen in the first half of 2009 is the result of a 37.2% and a 34.2% increase respectively for Class 3 and Class 8 registrations.

The 15.4% year-over-year increase for the first half of this year compared to 2010 was driven by a 25.7% increase in Class 3 vehicles. Only Class 7 registrations did not exceed the year earlier level, down 18.8%.

When you look more closely at the registration trends for the two largest volume segments for the past 18 months, two distinctly different patterns emerge. New registrations for Class 3 started 2011 at the highest level achieved during the past 18 months, fell back in February and have remained fairly flat at the 11-12,000 unit level in the following months.

Conversely, Class 8 vehicles started 2011 lower than January 2010 but have steadily increased to 12,724 units in June, the highest level in the past 18 months.

The fuel of choice remains diesel, with 80.2% of total Class 3-8 new commercial vehicle registrations in the first half of the year powered by a diesel engine, about equal to diesel share during the same period last year.

There continues to be a switch away from diesel in Class 4 vehicles and an increase in diesel-powered vehicles in Class 3, Polk notes. This switch is the direct result of Ford's installation of their proprietary diesel engine in Class 3 vehicles at the expense of installations in Class 4 vehicles.

When you look at the Polk data by fleet size, there appears to be good news at both ends of the spectrum. For the first six months of the year, both small fleets (1-5 units) and large fleets (500+ units) significantly increased their share of new registrations. Almost 69% of new registrations
in the first six months of the year came from either small fleets (+23.4%) or large fleets (+14%). Large fleets accounted for 35.5% of new registrations during the period.

Polk also tracks used vehicle registrations, which totaled 468,392 units for the first six months, an increase of 32.1% compared to the first half of last year. Good used trucks continue to be in
high demand, Polk says, as exemplified by the record level of activity during the second quarter and for the first six months of 2011. When used transactions are examined in combination with vehicles in operation, it is apparent that older units are being replaced by clean used equipment.