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This story appears in the July 22 print edition of Transport Topics.

Truck makers sold 15,929 Class 8 vehicles in the United States in June, the highest total so far in 2013, but also the 10th consecutive year-over-year decline, WardsAuto.com reported.

June’s total was down 8.9% from the 17,484 trucks sold in June 2012, but it was several hundred vehicles higher than April, which had been the OEMs’ best month of this year.

Through the first half of 2013, Class 8 sales are down 13.5% to 85,840 trucks, from 99,246 in the first six months of 2012, Ward’s data showed.

Executives with several truck manufacturers said June’s results — combined with recent improvements in key sectors of the economy — should lead to higher truck sales in the second half of the year.

“We have seen continued strength in automotive production, increasing construction spending and housing starts, as well as improving employment rates,” said Bill Kozek, president of Navistar Inc.’s North America truck and parts business. “As a result, we believe customers’ confidence in the market is starting to grow, which will positively impact sales and fall in line with Navistar’s 2013 forecast for an improved second half of the year.”

David Hames, Daimler Trucks North America’s general manager of marketing and strategy, said “economic concerns could still hinder market expansion, yet DTNA’s outlook for 2013 remains in line with the present commercial-vehicle industry market expectations.”

ACT Research projects that full-year retail sales in the United States will reach 196,000, with about 108,000 of those sales taking place in the second half of the year.

Though Class 8 sales have fallen, North American truck orders have increased 11.1% year-over-year during the first half of 2013 (7-15, p. 5).

Ward’s said that six of the seven North American Class 8 nameplates sold fewer trucks in June than a year ago, with only DTNA’s Freightliner brand posting a gain.

Freightliner sales climbed to 5,920, up 15.8% from last June. Six-month sales grew 7.6% to 33,439 trucks, and its first-half Class 8 market share increased to 39%, up from 31.3% in the same timeframe last year.

DTNA’s Hames attributed the company’s gains to customers’ interest in products “that offer industry-leading total cost of ownership, including increases in fuel efficiency, durability and reliability, such as the Cascadia Evolution.”

Sales of Navistar Inc.’s International brand trucks dropped to 2,225, down 26.1% from a year ago. Year-to-date, the company’s sales have tumbled 35.1% to 12,236 units, with six-month market share falling 4.7 percentage points to 14.3%.

On a month-to-month basis, however, International sales rose 14.8% from May’s total of 1,938.

Jack Allen, Navistar’s chief operating officer, acknowledged the company’s market share has suffered during its transition to engines that use selective catalytic reduction technology to meet federal emission standards, but he predicted its market share will begin to recover.

“The biggest factor in boosting sales momentum is having 15-liter and 13-liter product coverage, and our coverage is rapidly increasing,” Allen said.

The company began shipping International trucks with the Cummins ISX 15 engine in December, during Navistar’s fiscal first quarter, and started delivering trucks with its own 13-liter MaxxForce with Cummins SCR aftertreatment systems in late April, during the final week of its fiscal second quarter.

“It is no surprise that our market coverage of SCR products averaged less than 15% in the first quarter and grew to 50% in the second quarter. This will quickly rise to 80% in the third quarter and 95% in the fourth quarter, and we’ll be at 100% as we enter 2014,” Allen said.

Other truck makers did not provide comment before Transport Topics’ deadline.

Paccar Inc.’s operating companies, Peterbilt Motors Co. and Kenworth Trucks Co., placed second and fourth, respectively, in June truck sales.

With 2,268 trucks sold last month, Peterbilt trailed only Freightliner. However, that total still was down 15.6% from the 2,687 vehicles the company sold in June 2012. Peterbilt’s cumulative sales volume for 2013 declined 18.4% to 11,598.

Class 8 sales at Kenworth decreased 12.6% in June to 2,180. In the first half, Kenworth’s sales fell 22.4% to 11,388.

June sales at Volvo Trucks dropped to 1,648 units, down 25.4% from 2,208 sales a year earlier. Six-month sales volume declined 19.9% to 8,754.

Mack Trucks, which also is part of Volvo Group, sold 1,462 trucks in June, down 16.2% year-over-year. The company’s cumulative sales declined 17.3% to 6,889.

Sales of DTNA’s Western Star brand slipped to 193, a 4.5% decline from the 202 trucks sold a year ago. In the first half, though, Western Star’s sales surged 31.1% to 1,519, from 1,159 in the first six months of 2012.

Ed Day, general manager at the Wichita, Kan., location of truck dealer Roberts Truck Centers, said buyers remain cautious.

Nearly all customers who buy new trucks are replacing aging equipment, said Day, whose dealership sells International, Mack and Volvo trucks. “Very seldom do we see someone buying now without trading a like amount.”