Aussie truck sales soften…

Sales of new trucks have continued to soften in Australia, with Truck Industry Council's latest T-Mark figures indicating that 2943 trucks and vans were registered in April, a fall of 6.6 per cent over the same month last year, for a year-to-date tally of 11,261 vehicles – a fall of 4.8%.

April saw a significant contraction for the light, medium and heavy-duty truck segments, while the light-duty van niche bucked the trend to post growth of 27.7%, with 503 new vehicles registered for the month.

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In the overall figures, Isuzu leads the market with 2526 units registered this year to the end of April, the tally representing a contraction of 8.3%. Hino is next with 1636 units (up 2.3%), ahead of Fuso (1144, down 5.1%), Kenworth (746, down 6.9%) and Volvo (641, up 10.5%).

A total of 1006 new heavy-duty vehicles were registered in April, the month down 13.0% on the same month last year, for a year-to-date tally of 3922 trucks. That's down 3.4% on this time last year. Kenworth leads the heavy-duty segment with 746 units registered year to date (down 6.9%), ahead of Volvo (631, up 13.1%), Isuzu (471, down 17.8%), Scania (349, up 53.7%) and Mack (331, up 2.2%). Scania is clearly now reaping the benefit of the introduction of its latest generation of trucks, while also putting the supply issues of 2018 behind it.

In the medium-duty segment, 595 trucks were registered in April for a total of 2245 vehicles so far this year – those figures represent drops of 11.7% and 8.1% respectively. Isuzu leads the medium-duty segment with 837 vehicles registered year to date (a drop of 5.6%), ahead of Hino (689 units, growth of 5.5%), Fuso (354 units, down 7.1%), MAN (200 units, down 35.9%) and UD Trucks (88 units, down 29.0%).

It's a similar story in the light-duty truck market, where 839 new vehicles were registered in April for a year-to-date tally of 3245 units – that's a drop of 9.5% and 7.3% respectively. Isuzu leads the segment with a year-to-date tally of 1218 units (down 5.9%), ahead of Hino (767, down 0.8%), Fuso (590, down 14.1%), IVECO (272 units, down 17.6%) and Fiat (126 units, down 10.6%).

In contrast, the light-duty van market surged in April, the 503 new registrations it achieved equating with growth of 27.7% over the same month last year. The year-to-date tally of 1849 units is essentially holding steady, representing growth of 1.4%. Mercedes-Benz leads this segment with 687 units year to date (down 1.2%), ahead of Renault (354, down 16.1%), Ford (321, up 3.2%), Volkswagen (203, up 41.0%), and Fiat (147, down 13.0%).

Overall Australia's commercial vehicle market remains healthy, with the softening results of this year occurring off the back of the all-time record levels of 2018. Add in the extra uncertainty that always surrounds the lead-up to a federal election, and there's still opportunity for sales momentum to build throughout the remainder of the year.

Tony McMullan, CEO of Truck Industry Council, said sales for the new truck market had to eventually slow.

"The April result is not really a surprise," he said.

"We have noted a cooling of truck sales in the medium and light segments so far this year and we expected that eventually this hesitation would affect the heavy truck sector too.

"What is unclear at this stage, is if this is merely a market stumble and something that can be attributed to the usual economic uncertainty that always occurs in the lead-up to a federal election. Or whether this is a longer-term market slow-down caused by broader economic realities.

"I believe that we will have a clearer picture of how strong and how resilient the market is by the end of September. However, there is no doubt that this is a slower than ideal start to quarter two."