Global Truck Market Slowdown to Deepen?

The worldwide slump in demand for medium- and heavy-duty commercial trucks accelerated to about 10% in the third quarter, says LMC Automotive.

The market forecasting firm predicts more of the same for many months to come. It says worldwide sales are likely to shrink 5% in 2019 and again next year, dragged down by trade tensions and worries about future growth in China and more mature markets.

China is the world’s largest market for commercial trucks, buying a record 1.3 million such vehicles last year. But sales in that market have been cooling this year

LMC also predicts a “significant correction” in heavy truck sales in North America next year after strong results in 2019. The company notes that demand for construction equipment, farm machinery and mining-related vehicles already is declining.

Booming sales in Europe also are likely to fade, according to LMC. It notes that demand in the first half of 2019 was bolstered by stockpiling and pre-ordering ahead of regulatory mandates in the second quarter.

Now, LMC cautions, Europe’s truck market faces a likely sales payback and the effects of uncertainty about the impact of U.K.’s pending departure from the European Union and the continuing threat of a trade war with the U.S.