Flat start to New Year sales

A total of 1736 light-, medium- and heavy-duty trucks were sold in January 2014, a drop of 7.7 per cent over January 2013

The Truck Industry Council (TIC) has released its T-Mark truck sales data for January 2014, with the figures revealing a contraction of 7.7 per cent when compared with January of the previous year.

Traditional market leader Isuzu topped the month’s sales with 402 units, giving it a market share of 23.2 per cent. Some distance behind was Hino (249 units; market share of 14.4 per cent), followed by Mitsubishi Fuso (154 units; market share of 8.9 per cent).

Those podium places were repeated for those three marques in both the light-duty and medium-duty categories, while in the heavy-duty class it was no surprise to see Kenworth out in front with 110 sales (and an 18.5 per cent market share).

In that segment Kenworth was followed by Volvo (73 units; market share of 12.3 per cent) and Isuzu (66 units; market share of 11.1 per cent).

The TIC says the overall result is either the fifth-best or fifth-worst start to the year in the last decade, depending on whether your glass is ‘half full’, or ‘half empty’.

The latest figure is also the second-best post-GFC result for the month of January.

Heavy-duty sales totalled 595 units, a drop of two per cent, while medium-duty sales of 334 units represent a steep decline of 26 per cent. Light-duty sales saw 535 vehicles sold – a drop of 13 per cent.

The shining light then was the Light Duty Van segment, its 271 sales for the month equating with impressive growth of 33 per cent.

According to figures released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), strong individual performances in the heavy-duty class were recorded by Isuzu (61 units, up 238.9 per cent ), Scania (48 units, up 65.5 per cent), and Western Star (59 units, up 15.7 per cent).

According to the CEO of the TIC, Tony McMullan, the figures held few surprises.

“The result is not that unexpected,” he said.

“The latter part of 2013 saw truck sales decline and what we have seen in January is that trend continuing. Some economic indicators are picking up – for instance growth in the building sector late last year was positive and there were relatively strong Christmas retail sales.

“The truck market tends to lag the general economy by three to four months and new housing approvals by around six months so, allowing for this delay, I am quietly confident that we will see stronger truck sales in the months ahead. But we are a long way from the growth seen in the peak market years of 2007/2008.”

Flat start to New Year sales

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