SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – Used commercial vehicle registrations (GVW 3-8) in the U.S. during the first three quarters of 2011 reached record levels at 649,900 units, surpassing the previous record for the first nine months of a calendar year by 23.9 percent, according to Polk.
 
This level of activity represents more than 66 percent of the commercial vehicle transactions during the nine-month period. Together with 333,200 new registrations of GVW 3-8 vehicles over the same time period, total commercial vehicle transactions during the nine-month period reached nearly 1 million vehicles, based on recent analysis.
                       
“This strong demand for used commercial vehicles is a positive sign that businesses feel comfortable enough with their future prospects to update their older equipment,” said Gary Meteer, account director for commercial vehicle solutions, of Polk.
                                   
The shortage of good, clean GVW 8 vehicles in the market has been confirmed by Polk, as GVW 8 used vehicle transactions during the first nine months of this year were level with the transactions reported during the first nine months of 2010. However, GVW 8 used vehicle transactions have accounted for just 38.8 percent of total used transactions through September this year, versus 47.6 percent during the same timeframe in 2010. New commercial registrations of GVW 8 vehicles represented 35.2 percent of total new commercial registrations through September.
                                   
Polk’s analysis is based on a stringent definition of a used transaction, as vehicles included in the Polk summary must meet two specific criteria -- both the business name and the address of the business on the vehicle registration must have changed from the previous owner.
                                   
In addition to the GVW 8 analysis, Polk found used registrations for GVW 3 vehicles were up 58 percent in 2011 over 2010 transaction volumes through September and accounted for 28.4 percent of all used transactions compared to 22.3 percent during the same period last year. Used GVW 3 vehicles represented 66.3 percent of total GVW 3 vehicle transactions during the nine-month period of 2011 versus 57.4 percent during the same period in 2010.
 
“The continued strong demand for new GVW 3 vehicles, up 23.4 percent during the first nine-months of 2011, and a relatively flat vehicle population, indicates continued good availability of used GVW 3 product,” said Meteer.
 
Polk has been providing commercial vehicle data to the industry for decades and first began reporting used and new registration information in 2004. Polk’s solutions for the commercial market also include the ability to pinpoint business owners who have purchased used equipment and are therefore a good prospect for future purchases. Solid name list based on ownership profiling is one of the many services Polk provides to customers who are looking to expand their new and used vehicle business.