Used commercial vehicle registrations for Classes 3-8 in the U.S. during the first three quarters of 2011 reached record levels at 649,900 units, surpassing the previous record for the first nine months of a calendar year by 23.9%.


According to Polk, that level of activity represents more than 66% of the commercial vehicle registration transactions during the first nine months of 2011. Together with 333,200 registrations of new Class 3-8 vehicles over the same period, total commercial vehicle transactions during the period reached nearly one million vehicles.

"This strong demand for used commercial vehicles is a positive sign that businesses feel comfortable enough with their future prospects to update their older equipment," said Gary Meteer, account director for commercial vehicle solutions, of Polk.

The shortage of good Class 8 vehicles in the market has been confirmed by Polk, as Class 8 used vehicle transactions during the first nine months of this year were level with the transactions reported during the first nine months of 2010.

However, Class 8 used vehicle transactions accounted for just 38.8% of total used transactions through September this year, versus 47.6% during the same timeframe in 2010. New commercial registrations of Class 8 vehicles represented 35.2% of total new commercial registrations through September.

In contrast, Polk found registrations for used Class 3 vehicles were up 58% in 2011 over 2010, and accounted for 28.4% of all used transactions compared to 22.3% during the same period last year.

Used Class 3 vehicles represented 66.3% of total Class 3 vehicle transactions during the nine-month period of 2011 versus 57.4% during the same period in 2010.

"The continued strong demand for new Class 3 vehicles and a relatively flat vehicle population indicates continued good availability of used Class 3 product," said Meteer.

More info: www.polk.com.