Trucknews.com reported that Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) expects the North American Class 8 market to bounce back in 2012 with retail sales of 232,000 trucks. About 27,500 of those are expected to be sold in Canada, according to a market overview provided to business press today by Mark Lampert, DTNA's senior vice president, sales and marketing.

According to the report retail sales for the North American Class 8 market came in around 183,000 in 2011, with about 25,000 coming from Canada.

The report quotes Lampert saying, "We are back to what we call a 'normal' marketplace in terms of production over the past six months,"  However, Lampert also stated he does not see North American fleets growing their capacity.

"About 95% of sales are based on replacement demand. We are seeing very small growth. We still feel that during the first and second quarter of 2012 the industry will be running the oldest fleet in memory," Lampert said in the report. He also stated that the North American truck fleet is somewhere between 6.7 and 6.9 years old, on average. In Canada, records show that only about one fifth of heavy duty trucks are less than 5 years old Lampert also warned that the supply shortages - both in raw materials and parts - are not over, despite the rather tepid recovery. 

According to the report, he said the financial hit many suppliers took during the recession is making it difficult for them to invest the money necessary to meet future growth demand and he is worried about what would happen should the economy recover to the point where GDP was  growing at three  or four percent.


Trucknews.com: