Penske eyes stronger market share

Penske Australia & New Zealand posted a record $1.9 billion in revenue across 2025, falling just short of a $2billion target five years in the making, but it’s only sharpened the truck distributor’s appetite for growth.

The figure caps what the company’s managing director, Hamish Christie-Johnston, describes as a massive growth period, from a business that turned over $643 million when it launched its ‘2B by 25’ plan back in 2020, to a multi-billion dollar powerhouse today.

“We got to 1.9 billion, so we fell short of the two, but I think we would still call that a pretty good result,” Christie-Johnston told Trucksales at a recent Penske product update in Victoria.

Of the $1.9 billion total, the on-highway truck business represents the greatest chunk bringing in about 38 per cent of total revenue, with off-highway and automotive segments making up the balance in roughly equal measure.

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Penske’s secret weapon is its diverse portfolio of brands, from truck makers Western Star, MAN and Dennis Eagle, through to powertrain manufacturers Detroit Diesel and Allison Transmission, power generation leader MTU and most recently a number of Porsche dealerships in Victoria.

With more than 1500 employees across the group, and operations spanning road transport, defence, mining and energy, Christie-Johnston says the diversified model provides certainty in a tough market.

“There’s four legs to that chair, and those are the four key pillars that we talk about at Penske,” he said.

“It gives us a stable, strong business. Each of those segments might have its ups and downs, but the fact that we’re here in all four of those segments of the economy means that we’ve got a very strong, stable business.”

Despite the record top line, Penske’s executives are candid about where the business has underperformed – or rather where there is room for improvement.

In the heavy-duty truck segment, the company is tracking at around six per cent market share, which is a figure both Christie-Johnston and executive general manager of on-highway, Craig Lee, say is below where it should be.

“We were probably a little disappointed with our market share in heavy transport; we believe that we have the attributes to have stronger market share and we strive for that,” Christie-Johnston said.

Western Star shifted 168 heavy trucks last year, trailing MAN’s 293 units, but Lee is confident both brands have untapped potential – particularly cabover models.

“Sales volume, both 48X and TG3 MAN, we are not where we want to be with either of those products, which is disappointing,” he said.

The Western Star X-Series, which launched in late 2022 with Detroit Diesel’s DD16 as the sole high-horsepower engine option, has performed well on the road but hasn’t gained the corresponding momentum in the showroom.

Lee says more than 50 per cent of Western Star’s legacy customer base were buying Cummins-powered trucks, and those buyers largely migrated to Kenworth alternatives when the X-Series arrived without a red engine under the bonnet.

“A lot of the market we lost were customers that were buying that Cummins power,” Lee said. “So some have gone to Kenworth.”

While a Cummins X15 option for the X-Series remains on the table, with Lee telling Trucksales that “there’s still talk of it,” the priority is proving the DD16 is as capable as  customer data suggests.

“The fuel numbers that customers are quoting to me who are running these parallel with previous models are quite surprising,” Lee said. “The people that are running it at high weights, high horsepower, high load are getting exceptional performance and fuel burn.”

Lee expects MAN to maintain its position as Penske’s strongest on-highway brand, pointing to the fact that 74 per cent of heavy-duty trucks sold in Australia are cabover European models – a segment where MAN punches well above its weight overseas.

“MAN is an extremely good truck and they enjoy 30 per cent market share in Europe,” he said.

“They achieve that for damn good reason; they are extremely comfortable, they’re quiet, and they’re reliable.

“Our new generation Euro 6 is great on fuel. Everywhere we’ve put them, the customers and the drivers really like them.”

MAN’s volume has been held back by a three-year supply constraint on its all-wheel drive models, particularly the 8x8 and 6x6 variants that have traditionally made up a sizable chunk of sales, primarily for mining, exploration and motorhome applications. Those models are now beginning to arrive again.

Lee’s targets are clear for the on-highway brands: Western Star should be a 500-truck-a-year business, MAN should reach 750, and Dennis Eagle should contribute around 200 units.

The order intake is trending in the right direction, with Lee noting it has doubled so far in 2026, compared to the same period last year, despite the broader market slowdown.

The heavy-duty truck market continues to soften as each month goes by, and Lee does not expect the trend to reverse any time soon. He points to an industry-wide heavy-duty sales decline of around 20 per cent from 2024 to 2025, with year-to-date figures for 2026 tracking around 10 per cent below the same period last year.

“Insolvency rates are up, order inquiry is low across the board. I don’t think it’s going to be bullish,” Lee said.

“The long-run forecast for trucking in Australia will perform at or just above GDP. So when you see a softening of the economy, the road freight market softens. People are buying less shoes and booze and everything else that goes in a truck.”

While the on-highway brands face uncertain headwinds, other elements of the Penske business are experiencing strong growth.

Penske has shifted its next strategic target from revenue to profitability, setting a goal of $200 million in earnings before tax by 2030.

“We’re already in the top 600 companies in Australia and we want to climb that ladder further,” Christie-Johnston said.

Defence is expected to play a growing role, with Australia under pressure to increase its defence spending from around two per cent of GDP toward three per cent.

Penske is already contracted to repower Collins-class submarines, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Rolls-Royce Submarines in relation to nuclear reactors, and supports land platforms including the Boxer, Redback and Huntsman.

“We’ve actually employed our first nuclear engineer,” Christie-Johnston said. “So we are positioning ourselves to support the nuclear fleet too.”

Then there’s the company’s energy division, which delivered 850 megawatts of standby power to data centres last year, turned over more than $600 million in revenue and is the fastest-growing part of the business.

As far as the truck side, Lee believes the growth areas include the east coast B-double market, where the 48X with a 36-inch bunk in a 26-metre, 34-pallet configuration is purpose-built for the task, as well as the 8x4 agitator segment where a new product is set to arrive.

“We’re investing, we continue to improve our dealer group, we continue to grow our leasing and rental fleet, and we’re committed to the sector,” Lee said.

“And we’ve got a really sustainable business model because of the strength of our off-highway business.”