Heavy Commercial Vehicle Demand Strong Outside of United States and Canada

SOUTHFIELD, Mich., Sept. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Global demand for heavy commercial vehicles exceeded 1.7 million units during the first six months of the 2010 calendar year, an increase of nearly 50 percent from the comparable period in 2009, according to Polk. Heavy commercial vehicles are defined as vehicles designed and equipped to carry a payload greater than 3.5 tons.

While demand for heavy commercial vehicles in the United States and Canada is slowly improving over industry declines since 2007, demand for heavy commercial vehicles in the rest of the world, especially in China and India, is increasing at a significant rate.  

"It is important for manufacturers and parts suppliers to have a good understanding of the demand for heavy commercial vehicles by country to identify trends, manage inventory and provide the necessary resources within markets around the globe," said Mark Seng, vice president, sales and client services for aftermarket and commercial vehicle for Polk. "Approximately 88 percent of the demand for these vehicles is outside of the United States and Canada."

The increase in demand for the first six months of  2010 versus the same period last year is a result of strong heavy commercial vehicle demand in a variety of markets, including: India (+84 percent), China (+66 percent) and Russia (+65 percent). Brazil had an increase in demand for heavy commercial vehicles of 64 percent versus the same five month period of 2009 (six month data is unavailable).

Additional top markets and their year-over-year (YOY) performance for the first half of 2010 compared to the same period last year are as follows:

Chinese manufacturers led the market with four of the top five brands in the first six months of 2010, in the following order: Dongfeng Motor Group, followed by JAC Wanfa Limited, First Auto Works (FAW) and China National Heavy Duty Truck Group (HOWO). The fifth manufacturer is India-based Tata. The first Western manufacturer to be included in the ranking was Mercedes-Benz at number six.

Polk has been providing commercial vehicle intelligence to the industry for decades and has one of the most comprehensive vehicle history files for new vehicles. Polk also tracks vehicle populations by country with limited detail (make, model, series, engine, etc.) to assist companies in better understanding and planning their global footprint and business opportunities. Additionally, comprehensive information for the light commercial vehicle market represented by vehicles with a capacity of less than 3.5 tons also is available from Polk.

About R. L. Polk & Co.

R. L. Polk & Co. is the premier provider of automotive information and marketing solutions. Polk collects and interprets global data, and provides extensive automotive business expertise to help customers understand their market position, identify trends, build brand loyalty, conquest new business and gain a competitive advantage. Polk helps automotive manufacturers and dealers, automotive aftermarket companies, finance and insurance companies, advertising agencies, media companies, consulting organizations, government agencies and market research firms make good business decisions. A privately held global firm, Polk is based in Southfield, Michigan with operations in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. For more information, please visit www.polk.com.

SOURCE R. L. Polk & Co.