Rush Enterprises reported net income of $19.6 million in Q2/15, which is down slightly from the $19.8 number reached in the same time last year.
The income decrease came despite strong sales numbers in both the Class 8 and Class 4-7 truck markets, which managed to weather the drop in truck sales to the energy sector. U.S. Class 8 retail sales were 68.744 units in Q2/15, which marked a 22% increase from Q2/14. Rush’s Class 8 sales jumped by nearly 30% and accounted for 6.8% of the U.S. Class 8 truck market.

“Our Class 8 new truck sales this quarter were primarily the result of deliveries to large over-the-road fleets benefiting from a healthy economy. New and used stock truck sales also increased this quarter as a result of our large inventory of vehicles throughout the country,” said W. M. “Rusty” Rush, chairman, CEO and president of Rush Enterprises. “Our ability to meet the needs of large fleets, combined with the geographic diversity of our dealership network, has helped us to offset the significant decline in new truck sales to the energy sector.”

Rush’s Class 4-7 truck sales accounted for 5.4% of the total U.S. Market. The overall market had a 3% bump over Q2/14 with 55,437 units sold.

“Having outpaced the industry for two consecutive quarters in Class 8 new truck sales, and with order intake slowing in the first half of 2015, our Class 8 truck sales may remain flat, to down slightly, in the third quarter,” said Rush. “However, we are actively pursuing incremental business from our current customers, which include many of the industry’s Top 100 for hire carriers, and we are always seeking to expand our new customer base. We believe that these efforts will help offset declines in our energy sector new truck sales. We are encouraged that both of our Class 8 manufacturers continue to have production build slots to help meet shorter-lead time vehicle requirements. We expect both Class 4-7 and used truck sales to remain steady through the third quarter.”

ACT Research is forecasting U.S. retail sales for Class 8 vehicles to reach 267,000 units in 2015, a 19.2% increase over 2014. In addition, ACT Research predicts that U.S. retail sales for Class 4-7 vehicles will reach 209,700 units in 2015, a 4.4% increase over 2014.