Truck sales and incentives

U.S. commercial truck sales started 2026 with a sharp drop, even as manufacturers kept dangling cash and financing deals on vans aimed at service fleets. (truckpartsandservice.com) (fordauthority.com) American Truck Dealers said first-quarter sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks totaled 86,891 units, down 17.7% from the same period in 2025. Medium-duty sales fell 15.2% to 46,661 units, and heavy-duty sales dropped 20.5% to 40,230. (truckpartsandservice.com) March marked the ninth straight month of year-over-year sales declines, according to the dealer group’s Truck Beat report. The sales slowdown reflects weaker orders placed earlier, because truck deliveries usually trail bookings by months. (truckpartsandservice.com) (actresearch.net) That lag helps explain why weak delivery numbers can coexist with stronger order headlines. FTR said preliminary North American Class 8 net orders reached 38,200 units in March, up 137% from a year earlier, after 47,200 in February. (ftrintel.com) (today.ftrintel.com) ACT Research reported a similar March order figure of 37,200 units and said backlog building since December had lifted visibility for manufacturers. ACT also said order strength typically cools after the September-to-March ordering season. (actresearch.net 1) (actresearch.net 2) The split matters most for fleets that buy work vehicles on tighter replacement cycles, including plumbers, electricians, telecom contractors, and delivery operators. Those buyers often shop cargo vans and cutaway models, where monthly incentives can change the payment math faster than a broad truck-cycle recovery does. (fordauthority.com) (truckpartsandservice.com) Ford’s April offers on the 2026 Transit included 3.9% annual percentage rate financing for 60 months in New York, $3,000 cash back in New York and Detroit, and as much as $3,500 in combined customer and conquest cash in select regions. Ford Authority said the conquest offer targeted current owners or lessees of 1995-or-newer Chevrolet, General Motors Company, or Ram vans, with no trade-in or lease termination required. (fordauthority.com) Those incentives were set to run through April 30, 2026, and they followed similar March programs on the Transit. Ford Authority said March offers also reached as much as $3,500, though the mix of annual percentage rate financing and cash varied by market. (fordauthority.com 1) (fordauthority.com 2) Industry analysts were already describing 2025 as a weak year for commercial vehicle sales and registrations before the first-quarter dealer data arrived. At Work Truck Week in March, National Truck Equipment Association and S&P Global speakers said 2026 should improve, but buyer confidence was still being held back by broader economic uncertainty. (truckpartsandservice.com) For now, the market is sending two signals at once: dealers are reporting fewer trucks crossing the curb, while manufacturers are still using price cuts and cheap financing to keep specific fleet buyers moving. (truckpartsandservice.com) (fordauthority.com)