A preliminary reading of heavy-duty Class 8 commercial vehicle net orders for North American markets totaled 24,300 units in February 2011, according to ACT Research Co. Even though the February order volume is down 3,000 units from January, it maintains the strength of the North American Class 8 market demonstrated the past four months. This time period annualized represents an order flow of more than 272,200 units (SAAR). Preliminary net order numbers are subject to revision and are typically accurate to within +/- 5%.
“The industry is continuing in 2011 where it left off in 2010,” said Steve Tam, vice-president–commercial vehicle sector. “The strength in orders continues to restock industry backlogs and fuel increasing build as the industry moves through the year.”