Med-duty demand still pacing slower than class 8

COLUMBUS, Ind. – A significant rebound in medium-duty truck production is still being constrained by continuing weakness in the U.S. housing and construction sectors, reports ACT Research.

In the latest release of the ACT North American Commercial Vehicle Outlook, ACT says demand has been growing modestly in class 5-7 vehicles over the last few months, but is pacing far slower than the improvements in class 8.

ACT projects full-year production of medium-duty vehicles will be up 12 percent compared to 2009 and accelerate only to 18 percent year-over-year growth in 2011.

Next year’s forecast was reduced by approximately 10 percent, says ACT, while the heavy-duty forecast stayed virtually unchanged and calls for year-over-year production growth of 26 percent in 2010 and an additional 57 percent in 2011.

"In aggregate, the medium-duty sector has had four months of improving fundamentals," said Steve Tam, vice president-commercial vehicle sector with ACT Research. "However, when segregated, consistent but slow growth in the truck segment has been masked by short-term surges in either buses or recreational vehicles. With the housing recovery expected to be very protracted, the truck segment will be slow to reach pre-recession levels."