Combined new and used commercial vehicle (Class 3-8 GVW) registrations in the second quarter of the 2014 calendar year were 363,806 units, an increase of 10.4 percent over the same quarter in the 2013 calendar year, according to a new report from IHS Automotive, part of IHS Inc., a source of critical information and insight to the global automotive industry.

During the quarter, new registrations were up 13 percent year-over-year, the report said, and used transactions were up 8.3 percent from the second quarter of the 2013 calendar year.

Combined commercial vehicle registrations in the second quarter were at their highest level since IHS Automotive began tracking used transactions in 2005. Independently, new commercial vehicle registrations during the quarter were the best since the same quarter in the 2007 calendar year, while used transactions of 200,700 were the third best for any quarter since tracking started.  

“New registrations in the second quarter are significant since it is the first indication that the high level of orders and production has resulted in an increase in the movement of vehicles to the end customer,” said Gary Meteer, director, commercial vehicle solutions at IHS Automotive.  “Since the start of the 2012 calendar year, quarterly new registrations have moved in a narrow band of between 135,000-152,000 units. However, second quarter results have moved beyond that band, with an increase of 10.5 percent from the first quarter of the 2014 calendar year to their highest level since the recovery started in 2010.” 

IHS Automotive analysis indicates that the strength in the second quarter is the result of new registrations of GVW 8 vehicles by large fleets (501+ units), which achieved 22 percent growth over the second quarter 2013 and represented the highest level of new registrations in a quarter for GVW 8 vehicles by fleets operating 501-plus units since the third quarter of the 2006 calendar year. Among all GVW 8 registrations, second quarter growth was 17.8 percent over the same period last year.

Used Commercial Transactions Improve

Used transactions during the quarter increased 8.3 percent from the second quarter of the 2013 calendar year, to 200,700 units.

“While used transactions are typically stronger in the second quarter of a calendar year versus the first quarter, the increase in the 2014 calendar year was above expectations at 14.2 percent,” Meteer said.

Each GVW category saw improvements in used transactions over 2013, according to IHS.  ”In the quarter there were 80,000 used GVW 8 vehicles were registered, the highest  number of GVW 8 transactions since the second quarter, 2011,” Meteer said. During the quarter, used GVW 8 transactions accounted for 40 percent of the total used commercial vehicle transactions, up from 38.4 percent in the full 2013 calendar year and 39.4 percent in the comparable quarter of 2013.

Source: IHS Automotive

A complete copy of the 2014 Second Quarter Commercial Vehicle Report is available here.