May sees another sales record

With just June to go and with another month of record sales in May, new truck deliveries are looking to rewrite the history books for the first half of this year, according to the official figures from the Truck Industry Council.

The total Australian new truck market for May 2018 reached 3913 units, up a healthy 20.9 per cent over the same month in 2017 and is a record for May heavy vehicle sales, surpassing the previous best result of 3323 set in 2007.

All segments posted positive growth over that of May 2017. Year-to-date, the result for the total market is even better, tracking comfortably above this time last year by 2827 vehicles or 21.9 per cent.

As we have seen for all of 2018 thus far, it was the Heavy Duty truck segment that again led the way in growth, with 1328 units sold, up a significant 31.0 per cent, or 314 units, over May 2017.

When compared with the record pre-GFC month of May 2007 when 1156 trucks were sold, May 2018 is up by 15 per cent, showing that the HD market is well on track for a sales record for the first six months of this year. Year-to-date 5387 Heavies have been delivered, up a staggering 38.8 per cent (1506 trucks) over this time last year.

Medium and Light also strong
The Medium Duty segment continues to perform strongly too, outselling the corresponding month in 2017 by 110 units, a 17.3 per cent increase. In total 747 Medium trucks were delivered in May 2018. For the year-to-date, 3189 MD trucks have been delivered, up a very healthy 23.7 per cent (611 trucks) over the same period in 2017.

Light Duty trucks were again well into positive territory up 13.5 per cent for the month with 1215 sales in May 2018, this compares to 1071 sales for the same month in 2017. So far, 4717 LD trucks have been delivered in 2018, compared to 4218 in 2017, a gain of 11.8 per cent year-to-date 2018.

Light Duty Van sales in 2018 have been up on 2017 results, however sales in the van segment have not been as spectacular as has been seen in the truck segments. That said, van sales in May were up by 21.0 per cent over May 2017 with 623 vans being delivered. This takes the year -to-date 2018 van tally to 2446, up 211 vans (9.4 per cent) over the result to the end of May 2017.

President of the TIC, the peak industry body for truck manufacturers and importers into Australia, Phil Taylor, said: “May was a strong month for heavy vehicle sales with all segments posting gains over May 2017.

“It is pleasing to see the Heavy Duty segment continuing to lead new truck sales growth in 2018 with record breaking month after record breaking month. Medium Duty truck sales are also continuing their strong start to the year.

“Next month, June, is typically a strong month for truck sales as we reach the end of our financial year and the signs are all positive that we will reach the halfway point of 2018 with a result that will rewrite the history books for heavy vehicle sales in Australia. This has been a long time in the making,” Mr Taylor concluded.

Tony McMullan, CEO of Truck Industry Council, was also optimistic at the market’s performance year-to-date, saying: “Sales to the end of May continue to be the strongest that we have ever seen, ahead of the previous record year of 2007. It is particularly satisfying to see Heavy Duty truck sales at record or near record levels over the first five months of the year.

“This is a good indicator that business confidence is strong in the road freight sector as it is across most, if not all, economic segments. The indicators are there for a record first half year result and hopefully a similar result in quarters three and four of 2018,” Mr McMullan stated.