To get the pulse of the vocational truck and van market, I reached out to a wide cross-section of fleet managers around the country to find out what’s on their minds. Here’s a snapshot of what they told me.
Earlier this year, the automaker announced a major change to its vehicle portfolio, shifting to around 90% trucks, utilities, and commercial vehicles by 2020.
Increased fleet orders for trucks and vans created backlogs at upfitter facilities, increasing lead times and missed ship-thrus. A shortage of rail autorack carriers further delayed deliveries. Despite this, order-to-delivery for most units was similar to 2017.
Strong demand for light- and medium-duty trucks in the 2018 model-year increased order-to-delivery (OTD) times, resulting in widespread upfitter backlogs despite reduced fleet allocation availability due to competing strong retail demand for trucks.
The majority of fleets are reporting that their acquisition strategies are being stimulated by solid organic business growth, with most forecasting an increase or continuation of the same order volume in model-year 2019.
The 2019 Ram 1500, which is entering its 15th generation, will include a combination of three engines and three powertrains, including a 5.7L V-8, V-8 mild hybrid, 3.6L V-6 mild hybrid, and 3.0L V-6 EcoDiesel.
Volkswagen Group of America has begun delivering vehicles through a port of entry in northern California that's expected to improve vehicle delivery times in the area, the company announced.
Order cut-off dates for several 2018 model year truck models are fast approaching, according to Wheels, Inc. General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles have announced earlier than normal cut-off dates as they plan to move production and retool their plants in preparation for upcoming new designs and changes.
The Chevrolet Colorado truck logged the fastest order-to-delivery (OTD) time among trucks in the 2017 model-year, averaging 64 days, a 17-day improvement over 2016 figures.
The Chevrolet Traverse registered the fastest order-to-delivery (OTD) time among crossovers/SUVS for the 2017 model-year, averaging 52 days, which was a two-day improvement over 2016 figures.
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