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November Class 8 Sales Up 4.2% As Nation’s Economy Improves
.S. sales of heavy-duty trucks rose 4.2% in November compared with the same month a year earlier, posting a moderate gain from what was a strong month in 2002 when truck makers were still seeing leftover “pre-buy” demand for engines built before new federal emissions rules took effect that October.
Truck sales last month were also 22.65% higher than during the recession period of November 2001, according to data from Ward’s Communications of Southfield, Mich.But for the first 11 months of 2003, sales were 126,858, or 6.2% below 2002, according to Ward’s.