The Freightliner Cascadia’s position as the highest volume truck in the Class 8 market is not up for debate. But i’s stranglehold on the sales volumes lead does not give the truck a leg up in price.
When it comes to retail sales prices, Paccar’s truck brands are the market leaders.
Last week, Trucks, Parts, Service used 2023 auction and resale truck sales data compiled by our sister company Price Digests to discover the three most commonly sold truck models in each state in 2023.
This week, we dive deeper into that data set, identifying the highest average resale price among the industry’s most popular trucks.
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Before we go deeper, three points we must note:
- The information below does not show the absolute highest price truck model per state. It shows the highest priced truck among the three models identified for each state last week. This was done to keep the focus on truck models that are heavily used in the market and not highlight truck models with little volume that sold for exorbitantly high prices.
- The information below was compiled solely off resale data, due to a lack of consistent auction volume data from each state in Price Digests’ data set.
- The information below solely comes from sales within the United States. Any trucks exported to Canada or elsewhere were excluded due to low volumes.
Paccar premiums
While Kenworth’s T680 only nabbed volume titles in three states last year, it was the price clear leader among 2023’s most popular vehicles. Among the four truck models (Kenworth T680, Freightliner Cascadia, Volvo VNL and International LT625) with the most coverage in last week’s state-by-state volume report, the T680’s average national resale price of $70,137 was nearly $8,800 more than the second-place International tractor.
The T680 also was the highest-price truck in 13 states based on Price Digests’ data using the parameters referenced above, and finished second in the other eight states where it was represented. Coupled with the T800 (North Dakota) and W900L (Nebraska), Kenworth trucks topped the price list in 15 states. Kenworth trucks also held up well compared to other state leaders. The T680 exceeded $62,000 in every state where it led the market. The T800 and W900L were even stronger, surpassing $100,000 on average in the two states they won.
The International LT625 topped 15 states as well, albeit at a lower average than Kenworth’s trucks.
[RELATED: Data showcases state-by-state breakdown of used truck sales volumes]
Peterbilt showed its market strength this week too, finishing first in price in seven of the eight states where it was represented in last week’s report. Kenworth’s T680 was $1,500 stronger than the 579 in Missouri for the red oval’s only second-place finish in this week's report.
Peterbilt trucks also eclipsed $70,000 on average in each state where it was represented, per Price Digests’ data.
Region determines price
The Northeast was a tough market for used trucks sales last year. Connecticut was the only state in the region in which the highest price truck eclipsed $60,000 on average, despite 39 states surpassing the $60,000 barrier nationwide. Additionally, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York and Delaware were the only states in which the highest price truck sold for less than $50,000 on average.
Pricing was also expectedly depressed in the highest volume used truck states. The Peterbilt 379 averaged $75,325 in Ohio but the top-priced truck in the four other highest volume states (California, Texas, Florida and Georgia) failed to surpass $67,000. The Texas market was particularly tough, as the LT625 outpaced the Cascadia by just $52 per truck ($53,998 to $53,946).
On the flip side, Iowa, Oklahoma and Utah were the strongest state markets in 2023, with the top three truck models by volume in each state all selling for at least $60,000 last year. Colorado also just missed joining that group, with its third highest volume truck averaging $59,993.
Ten states also saw its highest priced high-volume truck average more than $80,000 — Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Utah, West Virginia, Virginia and Wisconsin.
This article is Part II in our three-part Price Digests used truck insights series regarding 2023 sales. Part I is available here. Stay tuned next week when we release Part III addressing sales volume and pricing in Canada.
