Class 8 Sales Fall Below Prior Year for Fifth Straight Month
Year-to-Date Numbers Are Down 13.6%, but 'Miracles' Can Happen in December, ACT Research's Tam Says
Key Takeaways:
- U.S. Class 8 retail truck sales fell 36.5% year over year to 12,479 in November, the fifth consecutive decline and a 15.1% drop from October.
- Year-to-date sales are down 13.6% to 188,145 as soft freight demand and higher costs keep fleets cautious, according to ACT Research.
- Analysts expect a potential December rebound near 20%, though every major manufacturer posted November declines and ACT forecasts about 210,000 U.S. trucks in 2025.
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U.S. Class 8 retail truck sales hit their fifth consecutive month of year-over-year declines in November, according to data from Omdia Automotive.
Sales decreased 36.5% to 12,479 when compared with the 19,658 units reported a year earlier. In 2025, truck manufacturers have taken a beating, with the only year-over-year increase occurring in June. Sales also were 15.1% lower than the 14,690 units reported in October.
“I don’t want to read too much into a single data point, but that 15% decline, typically that’s double what we normally see going from October to November,” ACT Research Vice President Steve Tam said. “You have to go back to May of 2020 to see, I guess I’ll call it a weaker sales month. Clearly the customers in this space are under pressure, and it’s the same old cast of characters: Freight is stalled out, we’re just not seeing much growth there, costs are up.”
Tam added that those increased costs include everything from insurance to equipment, but he noted that fuel prices have decreased.
The end of the year, there’s more than one miracle that happens in December. We typically actually see a pretty strong increase in sales in December, historically about 20% or so.
Steve Tam, ACT Research vice president
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Year-to-date sales are down 13.6% to 188,145 units from 217,872. ACT Research’s forecast for 2025 was about 210,000 trucks. Tam is still optimistic that the year will end on a stronger month given typical patterns.
“The end of the year, there’s more than one miracle that happens in December,” Tam said. “We typically actually see a pretty strong increase in sales in December, historically about 20% or so. And so, the outsize weakness in November begs the question of whether we’re going to see a commensurately strong bounce back in the last month of the year.”
Omdia data showed that sales for every major truck manufacturer fell compared with the year-ago period. Freightliner, a brand of Daimler Truck North America, claimed the largest market share at 35.2% with 4,394 trucks sold, but that was 41.8% lower than the 7,550 reported during the year-ago period. And sales for DTNA’s Western Star brand declined 31% to 712 units from 1,032.
Mack Trucks sales decreased 9.4% to 1,083 units from 1,196. Volvo Trucks North America sales declined 11.8% to 1,355 units from 1,536. Mack and VTNA are Volvo Group brands.
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“November sales continued the trends we saw in October, with fleets maintaining their cautious approach to capital investments,” said Jonathan Randall, president of Mack Trucks North America. “The persistent soft freight environment and economic uncertainty are keeping replacement cycles extended as customers focus on maximizing their existing assets while they monitor conditions heading into the new year.”
International Motors sales fell 53.1% to 1,234 units from 2,630. Peterbilt Motors Co. sales decreased 33.7% to 1,906 units from 2,875. Kenworth Truck Co. sales dropped 36.4% to 1,786 from 2,809. Peterbilt and Kenworth are Paccar Inc. brands.
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“The North American truck market continues to face significant headwinds, with November industry retails in the U.S. and Canada totaling 14,023 units, compared to 21,631 in November last year,” said Magnus Koeck, vice president of strategy, marketing and brand management at Volvo Trucks North America. “To put things in perspective, November 2025 was the lowest November retail month since the financial crisis in 2009.”
Koeck noted the trucking industry is still navigating the uncertainties around tariffs, upcoming emissions regulations, soft freight demand and low profitability. As a result, he has seen fleets hold onto trucks longer and delay purchases because of these uncertainties.
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