News Releases

PRNewswire
Dublin, Feb. 27, 2017

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the “Vocational Truck/Body Industry in North America: Size, Trends, Growth, Outlook & Competitive Structure Underlying the Manufacture and Market for Truck Bodies that Determine the Final Use/Application of the Vehicle 2016 – 2020 Outlook” report to their offering.

Details on 380+ fabricators/suppliers of key types of truck bodies have been aggregated into an analytical framework to define and segment a $7+ billion industry.

The manufacture of a custom truck in North America is a multi-faceted process involving not only the truck/chassis manufacturer but also numerous body fabricators, equipment manufacturers and distributors that upfit the vehicle for its final vocational use. Whereas truck/chassis producers comprise only a handful of well-known large cap brand names, the body fabrication and installation side is a highly fragmented business with numerous players, ranging from small local/regional shops to national companies with multi-plant presence.

Even though this industry is vital in defining the final vehicle received by the end-user, body fabrication has always been relegated to a lower echelon, in relation to the interest and coverage given to chassis and component suppliers.

Yet these groups (chassis and component suppliers) are highly dependent on the body builder. The final end-use customer judges the entire vehicle by its brand and plate names, and many may not even be aware of the juxtaposition of chassis, component, body builders and upfitters in bringing the whole vehicle to fruition.

This is an extensive project requiring expert analysis and familiarity with the industry and its dynamics. No one has attempted to portray the truck body fabrication industry in its entirety in units and dollars, most likely because there are only about ten large fabricators with revenues in excess of $100 million, but at least 370 smaller players. Close to 70% of all manufacturers generate less than $10 million annually from vocational truck body sales. However small manufacturers are an important part of the industry, catering to regional demand and custom requirements of small fleets.

By looking at this project from a ground-up examination of each manufacturer’s activity, we have developed its own independent estimates of the North American market. We estimate that 380+ identified manufacturers in the U.S. + Canada produced 314,200 bodies in 2015 for truck mounting across 13 selected vocational applications, with a production value of $7 billion at approximate distributor prices.

After high growth rates in 2014 and 2015 that were a catch-up to pent-up demand from recession years, growth has slowed in 2016. In the long-term, the outlook for the industry is quite positive, given the revolution taking place in all aspects of freight transportation, from technology to the rapid increase in e¬commerce.

Media Contact:

Laura Wood, Senior Manager
press@researchandmarkets.com

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