November regos in

The latest Truck Industry Council T-MARK registration data shows 2853 commercial vehicles were registered for the month of November, the figure up 9.5 per cent on the same month last year. A total of 28,933 trucks and vans have been registered this year to the end of November, the figure up 4.1% on the corresponding 2014 period.

Breaking the figures down by vehicle classes, the prevailing trend continued in November – with the heavy-duty market suffering a drop and the lighter classes performing well. The medium-duty class rebounded from an October slump to post a strong gain, while the light-duty and van classes both continued to surge.

A total of 802 trucks were registered in the heavy-duty category in November, the number down 17.2% from November 2014. Year-to-date the class is down 8.1%, with 8885 trucks registered to the end of November.

Most of the dominant players are also down on year-to-date figures, with Isuzu a notable exception (+8.2%).

In the medium-duty class the 629 trucks registered in November represent strong growth of 19.6% from the same month last year, while the 6090 trucks registered year-to-date are up 2.4% from the previous corresponding period.

Hino continues its strong run in the medium-duty market, up 14.6% year-to-date, while Iveco's figures are up 11.5%.

A total of 892 trucks were registered in the buoyant light-duty class in November, the tally representing a gain of 23.4% over the same month last year. Some 8883 trucks have been registered year-to-date in the class, which is up 11.5% on the previous corresponding period.

Fuso and Hino are performing strongly in the medium-duty market, posting year-to-date gains of 13.2 and 12.7% respectively.

The van segment continues to grow, with the 530 examples registered in November equating with a massive jump of 37.0% from November 2014. A total of 5075 new van have been registered to the end of November, which is growth of 20.5% from the same period last year.

TIC Chief Executive Officer Tony McMullan said sales of heavy-duty trucks were uncharacteristically slow for this time of year.

"The months of October and November are generally strong for new trucks sales, particularly in the Heavy Duty segment, as fleets gear up for the festive season demands," he said.

"It is disappointing that road freight companies are either not seeing the demand for increased road freight, which would be quite unusual given the time of year, or they are simply not committing to new heavy truck purchases.

"Sales at the top end of the truck market are so bad that we are potentially facing the worst final-quarter result in this segment for five years.

"The Truck Industry Council has been calling on government for some time now to look at the introduction of incentives, such as those outlined in the TIC National Truck Plan, to aid the purchases of new trucks, but while we wait for government to consider this we see new truck sales at the top end of the market continue to stall.

"On a more positive note, it is encouraging to see Light Duty Truck and Van sales continue to grow over those of 2014 and Medium Duty truck sales remain solid for the month of November 2015."

Registration figures for the top five manufacturers in each class are as follows:

NOVEMBER 2015 YEAR-TO-DATE REGISTRATIONS (OVERALL)

NOVEMBER 2015 YEAR-TO-DATE REGISTRATIONS (HEAVY DUTY)

NOVEMBER 2015 YEAR-TO-DATE REGISTRATIONS (LIGHT DUTY)

NOVEMBER 2015 YEAR-TO-DATE REGISTRATIONS (LIGHT-DUTY VAN)

Related reading:
October 2015 registrations
September 2015 registrations
August 2015 registrations
July 2015 registrations
June 2015 registrations
May 2015 registrations
April 2015 registrations
March 2015 registrations
February 2015 registrations
January 2015 registrations
December 2014 registrations