Aussie truck market firing on all cylinders

The hangover of the Global Financial Crisis appears to be well and truly over, with more positive sales news in April and growth across all three new truck categories.

The heavy end of the truck industry, which was struggling until fairly recently, is now performing particularly strongly, which is good news for the economy, good news for the average age of the national truck fleet, and good news for operators – for whom the economic outlook is looking bright.

According to the latest Truck Industry Council data, a total of 3151 new trucks and vans were registered in April – growth of 25.2 per cent over the same month last year – the figure pushing the year-to-date tally to 11,826 units, itself up 22.2%.

Now into our fifth month of 2018, only a small handful of brands are experiencing a contraction in year-to-date figures, with the vast majority seeing an upward spike – and some a significant one at that.

Of the high-volume sellers, Kenworth sales are up 66.9% while Iveco is up 59.9% and Mercedes-Benz is up 43.8%. MAN is up an incredible 187.3%, the bulk of that gain achieved in the medium-duty segment, while Volvo is up 34.3%.

The year-to-date tallies for each truck manufacturer* (all segments) to the end of April is as follows:

BRAND/UNITS YTD/YOY % CHANGE
Isuzu, 2755, +13.1
Hino, 1599, +25.0
Fuso, 1205, +15.6
Kenworth, 801, +66.9
Volvo, 580, +34.3
Iveco, 574, +59.9
Mercedes-Benz, 502, +43.8
MAN, 474, +187.3
Mack, 324, +23.7
UD Trucks, 260, +1.6
Scania, 228, +3.2
Fiat, 141, -6.0
Freightliner, 140, +20.7
DAF, 134, +8.9
Western Star, 113, -3.4
Renault, 74, +80.5
Ford, 32, -23.8
Dennis Eagle, 22, -58.5
Hyundai, 17, New
International, 17, New
CAT, 11, -38.9
*Figures for van manufacturers have not been shown, while for some of the above manufacturers figures include those for van derivatives registered in cab/chassis form.

HEAVY-DUTY
The heavy-duty segment is the great success story at present, with 1156 new vehicles registered in April (up 54.1% on April 2017) to give a year-to-date total of 4059 units. That's year-to-date growth of 41.6%.

Traditional market leader Kenworth experienced a strong surge to register 801 new vehicles year to date, equating with growth of 66.9% over the same time last year.

Next lies archrival Volvo, its 558 units also representing growth of 30.4%, followed by Isuzu (573 units, up 79.6%), Mercedes-Benz (333 units, up 117.6%) and Mack (324 units, up 23.7%).

If we combine the Australian conglomerates of PACCAR (Kenworth and DAF) and Volvo Group Australia (Volvo, Mack and UD Trucks), it's the latter out in front on a total of 1018 units, versus 926 for PACCAR.

In a similar vein, Daimler (Mercedes-Benz, Fuso and Freightliner) is on 610 units, while Penske Commercial Vehicles (MAN, Western Star and Dennis Eagle) is on 297 units.

There's plenty of momentum in the new heavy-duty truck market at present, with new or recent offerings from the likes of Mercedes-Benz, Scania, MAN and Volvo, along with UD Trucks.

MEDIUM-DUTY
The medium-duty segment is also performing nicely, with the 674 units registered in April equating to growth of 19.7%. So far 2442 new medium-duty trucks have been registered, delivering solid growth of 25.8%.

Isuzu's year-to-date total of 887 units represents growth of 7.9%, while second-placed Hino experienced a similar boost to achieve 653 units (up 7.0%).

That leaves a hard-charging Fuso trailing in third on 381 units (up 39.1%), followed by an incredible lift from MAN (312 units, up 1633.3%) but a disappointing result from UD Trucks (124 units, down 21.5%).

LIGHT-DUTY
The light-duty truck segment has cooled somewhat after the impressive growth of recent years, but April still saw a gain of 14.0% over the same month last year, with 927 units registered, and year-to-date growth of 11.2% (with a tally of 3502 units).

Isuzu continues to dominate this segment with year-to-date registrations of 1295 units, but that's exactly level with its tally the same time last year.

Second-placed Hino, however, has experienced year-on-year growth of 32.8%, its tally currently 773 units.

It's followed by Fuso (687 units, up 5.2%), Iveco (330 units, up 70.1%) and Mercedes-Benz (153 units, down 14.0%).

LIGHT-DUTY VAN
That leaves the vans, a segment that has slowed after a period of meteoric growth. Some 394 new vehicles were registered in April, equating with growth of just 0.8%, for a year-to-date tally of 1823 units. That's still some 6.0% up on the corresponding period last year.

Mercedes-Benz continues its domination here even before sales kick in of its new-generation Sprinter, with 695 units registered this year providing growth of 20.2%.

Next lies Renault with 422 units (down 26.9%), followed by Ford (311 units, up 69.9%), Fiat (169 units, up 23.4%) and Volkswagen (144 units, down 2.7%).

Ford is clearly enjoying the benefits of its new Transit and Transit Custom ranges, while Volkswagen has its eyes on the arrival of its new Crafter in the second half of this year.

SUMMARY
After years of languishing in the doldrums following the GFC, it really does seem like the Australian truck industry has turned a corner and is eyeing a new period of economic health.

The forecast increase in the national freight task remains strong and the global trends in e-commerce and urbanisation mean the demand for last-mile logistics will only continue to grow. Add in what seems to be the releasing of pent-up demand for new trucks in the heavy-duty segment, and the outlook is decidedly optimistic.

While there's still the uncertainty of a Federal election looming in the not-too-distant future, unemployment is down and the national economy remains buoyant – and the road ahead is looking smoother for the road freight industry than it has done for several years.

Related reading:
2018 sees record first-quarter sales
Records tumble but not the big one

President of Truck Industry Council, Phil Taylor, was delighted with the latest figures.

"It just seems to be getting better!" he said.

"A great set of numbers, a new record for April sales and very pleasing to see the Heavy Duty segment leading the sales boom."

Tony McMullan, CEO of Truck Industry Council, was also upbeat.

“It is encouraging to see another good result in April to follow the solid first-quarter figures," he said.

"It is particularly encouraging to see Heavy Truck sales showing such continued progression. We are currently sitting on record sales growth and that is a strong position to be in as we head towards the end of the financial year."