Record year for Australian truck sales

The Truck Industry Council’s official tally for the year of 2023 is 47,757 units. That eclipses the previous record of 44,379 set in 2022.

December itself was a solid month with 4111 sales, which is well above the December average of around 3400.

In the overall totals, Isuzu came out on top with an incredible 13,658 trucks sold for the year. The figure represents 28.6 per cent of the market and gives Isuzu its 35th year as market leader.

Its closest rival was Hino, with 5909 sales for 12.4% of the market. Next was Fuso with 4822 sales and a 10.1% market share.

The heavy-duty truck market is known as the blue riband category and a great gauge of the market as a whole. Over the 2023 calendar year a total of 17,569 trucks were sold, which compares to 14,966 last year.

This means that 2023 was an all-time sales record for the big trucks.

In the heavy-duty race, Kenworth came out on top with 3653 sales or 20.8% of that market. Volvo, always snapping at Kenworth’s heels throughout the year, came in second, with 3476 sales representing 19.8% of the heavy-duty market.

Isuzu was third with 2393 sales or 13.6% of the market, which is commendable as it doesn’t currently offer a prime mover.

Interestingly, Scania came in fourth with a creditable 1383 trucks sold or a 7.9% market share. The figure is the brand's biggest in terms of the number of sales, and its highest market share ever in Australia.

In the medium-duty market a total of 8004 trucks were sold, with Isuzu leading the way with 3937 trucks sold representing a hefty 49.2% market share. Hino came in second with 2264 sales, or 28.3% of the medium-duty market.

Fuso was third with 1208 sales, which was 15.1% of the market.

Of particular note here is that the top-three brands of Isuzu, Hino and Fuso represent a total of 92.6% of the medium-duty market – we’d hate to be playing in that sandpit!

The light-duty truck market has been up and down all year and December saw another contraction, with 1187 trucks sold compared to November with 1294 (another low-selling month for the little trucks).

By the end of the year, the light duty truck Segment came close to setting a new sales record falling just 267 trucks short of the all-time segment record set in 2022.

However, the year’s total for the light-duty segment was 16,166 units, which is just slightly down on the previous year’s total.

The Light Duty truck segment accounted for at 33.6% of all heavy vehicle sales in 2023 and has now slipped back to be the second strongest segment after HD trucks.

Digging deeper into the light-duty segment, Isuzu again reigned supreme with 7328 sales or 45.3% of the market.

Hino came in second with 2928 or an 18.1% market share, only just pipping Fuso with 2838 sales and 17.6% of the light-duty market. IVECO came in fourth with 1199 units and a 7.4% market share.

In 2023 the light vans segment came back a little compared to 2022 but didn’t reach the lofty heights of 2021.

The total for 2023 was 6018 units, which was considerably better than 2022 which saw just 5519 vans sold.

Leading the pack in large van sales was Mercedes-Benz, with 2502 sales for the year equating to a 41.6% market share. Next was Renault with 1161 sales for a 19.3% market share. Third in terms of sales was Volkswagen, with 1044 units sold totalling 17.3% market share.

In all, it was a solid year for the Australian truck market and one which we may look back on with envy. Although, with some companies still facing supply issues, we did see some softening in the medium-duty market and not too much to cheer about in the van sector.

The Chief Executive Officer of TIC, Tony McMullan, said it was great to post another record year.

“It was pleasing to see such strong truck sales continue in 2023, with the year setting a new all-time sales record for new truck sales in Australia, eclipsing the previous peak set in 2022,” said McMullan.

“It was equally pleasing to see annual new truck and van sales approaching the 50,000 mark.

“The 40,000 barrier was only broken relatively recently in 2018 and despite the COVID supply chain disruptions, new truck sales in Australia have remained strong. The 2023 result of 47,757 sales has surpassed industry expectations, particularly given the 2023 mid-year end of the temporary full expensing tax measures put in place during COVID.”