Monthly data from January 2025 is trending down from the previous year. (Kenworth Truck Company)
key takeaways:
- U.S. Class 4-7 retail truck sales fell 4.7% in May to 17,663 units from 18,532 a year earlier.
- Steve Tam of ACT Research said buyer reluctance reflects uncertainty, given medium-duty trucks are closely tied to consumer goods and services.
- Sales rose 15.5% from April, while Class 6 was the only segment to record year-over-year growth.
The U.S. medium-duty truck market continued to show signs of buyer reluctance in May, with sales down from a year earlier, according to data from Omdia Automotive.
Class 4-7 retail truck sales declined 4.7% to 17,663 in May 2025 from 18,532. Monthly data from January 2025 is trending down from last year. Steve Tam, vice president of ACT Research, said the medium-duty market is seeing a lack of commitment from buyers due to uncertainty, much like their heavy-duty counterparts.
“From a larger perspective in the medium-duty sector, nothing has changed,” Tam said. “Everything we said about Class 8 applies doubly for middle-class people. They are much more closely connected to what’s happening on the consumer side of the economy, and not just goods but services as well.”
However, sequentially, sales rose 15.5% from 15,293 units in April.
Class 7 truck sales declined 2.8% to 4,323 units from 4,445 a year earlier. Class 6 sales saw the only increase, rising 19.6% from 5,933 to 7,096 units. Tam suspects some of that gain can be explained by Ford upgrading its F-550 trucks and repositioning the category. Class 5 sales declined 27.6% to 5,017 units from 6,927. Class 4 sales remained unchanged at 1,227 units.
Best in class results
- Freightliner sold the most Class 7 trucks at 2,159 units.
- Ford sold the most Class 6 trucks at 3,764.
- Ford sold the most Class 5 trucks at 2,334.
- Isuzu sold the highest number of Class 4 trucks at 652 units.
