For the second consecutive quarter, sales of new motorcoaches in the U.S. and Canada have fallen by more than 20 percent.

National Bus Trader magazine reports there were 372 new coaches sold during the first three months of this year, down more than 29 percent from same-period 2008 sales.

It was the industrys poorest first-quarter performance in five years. In the first three months of 2004, 326 new coaches were sold.

The first-quarter 09 decline followed a 23 percent drop in new coach sales during the final quarter of last year.

New motorcoach sales have declined for four consecutive quarters, when compared to year-earlier results, a firm indication coach builders are once again being jostled by the industrys notorious roller-coaster sales cycle.

Not since the first quarter of last year have new coach sales posted a year-over-year increase.

In analyzing the sales figures, National Bus Trader Editor Larry Plachno noted that the first quarter obviously was influenced by current economic conditions. But beyond that, he said there were other factors that made the quarter unusual.

First, purchases of new coaches by Canadian operators plummeted more than 41 percent.

Second, sales of coach conversion shells fell a dramatic 78 percent as the luxury RV market continued gasping for air. Only 14 conversion shells were sold during the quarter, the worst performance since Plachno began keeping figures on a quarterly basis.

All was not doom and gloom, however.

Plachno pointed out that each of the coach manufacturers he tracks had at least one model that posted a sales increase from the first quarter of 2008. In all, six different models showed a gain.

Also, imported coaches - Van Hool, Setra and Temsa represented more than 19 percent of total first-quarter sales, compared to under 16 percent for the first quarter of last year.

Plachnos 09 first-quarter figures include one new model - the Volvo 9700 that is being sold by Prevost Car, whose parent company is Volvo.

There was shuffling among the best selling coaches during the first quarter of the year, with three MCI models J4500, D4500 and D4505 -- taking the top sales spots.

Following those three were the Prevost X3-45, the Van Hool C2045, the Prevost H3-45 and the Setra S417.

MCI, boosted by large orders from Coach USA and Coach America, captured just over 60 percent of the market during the quarter.

Nearly 93 percent of the coaches sold during the quarter were 45-footers, with just under 6 percent 40-41 feet in length, and 1.3 percent represented by the TS-35 model from Temsa, which recorded its first sales in the U.S. during the fourth quarter of last year.

Roughly 24 percent of the coaches sold in the first quarter were equipped with semi-automatic transmissions, either the ZF AS-tronic or the Volvo I-Shift. Allisons were in 76 percent of the new models.