COLUMBUS, Ind. – The forecast for commercial vehicle sales looks strong as the freight segments of the economy continue to display signs of stability and growth, say truck market experts at ACT Research Co.

In the latest release of the ACT North American Commercial Vehicle Outlook, ACT suggests that demand for both heavy-duty vehicles and commercial trailers will drive significant production gains for North American OEMs in the next two years.

Full-year 2010 production of Class 8 vehicles is expected to be about 152,000 units, up 29 percent from a weak 2009, but still well below normal replacement demand, says ACT.

Demand should continue to ramp up over the next two years, with production in 2012 exceeding 300,000 units.

"Our forecasts for both 2010 and 2011 have stayed in a narrow range for the past fifteen months as our model predicted a slow economic recovery and deferred investment would create a strong replacement cycle as we moved into 2011," said Kenny Vieth, president and senior analyst with ACT Research.

"While headwinds make a full-blown economic recovery unlikely before 2012, recent trends in the transportation and commercial vehicle markets point toward demand for new vehicles building throughout 2011 and 2012."