Natural gas truck sales down in 2021: ACT

Natural gas Class 8 truck retail sales have contracted 25% in the U.S. and Canada in 2021 through February, according to data from ACT Research.

“Sales of natural gas-powered vehicles as reported by the six major truck OEMs, who account for approximately 60% of the heavy-duty natural gas market, were mixed in the December 2020 to February 2021 time period, with December experiencing a small sequential decline, but an impressive year-over-year gain,” said Steve Tam, vice-president at ACT Research.

“The new year got off to a slow start, falling month-over-month and year-over-year, but February showed brighter, improving from January and last February, up 1% and 5%, respectively.”

Tam added, “Last year ended with 6% fewer U.S. Class 8 natural gas-powered units sold than in 2019, while through the first two months of 2021, reporting OEMs have sold 468 natural gas-powered Class 8 units, down 25% against a very strong comparison.”

The breakdown is produced in ACT’s Alternative Fuels Quarterly report.