News
here that US Class 8 sales moved very slightly in the right direction during
June.
But
the year-to-date numbers remain the stuff of nightmares; with the sole
exception of International, which is currently 5.3 per cent down on last year,
every truck supplier competing in the North American market is haemorrhaging
sales. Freightliner is 32 per cent behind its position last year, whilst the
Paccar brands are both nearly 25 per cent adrift. In the case of the latter,
and with Europe beginning to stumble, we're forced to wonder quite what
Paccar's balance sheet is going to look like come year end. Not very pretty is
our best guess.