Sales down through third quarter 2020

The Truck Industry Council (TIC) has released it figures for September and the third quarter of 2020 and, as expected, little has changed in the Australian new truck and van market which has seen all sectors continue to struggle due to the ongoing effects of COVID-19.

Overall, the third quarter result for 2020, which saw 8365 new truck and van sales, was down on third quarter results seen over the past four years, though still slightly ahead of sales directly following the Global Financial Crisis (GFC).

Year-to date the market is tracking down 13.1 per cent (-3737 vehicles) over the same period last year with a total of 24,813 heavy vehicles sold thus far in 2020.

All segments have struggled since March this year, but none more so than the heavy-duty truck segment which was down 18.7 per cent (-577 trucks) in quarter three. Year-to-date HD trucks are now lagging last year’s sales by 21.9 per cent (-2080 trucks) with only 7427 heavy-duty trucks sold in Australia to the end of September.

For the month of September, the news was not quite as bleak, however sales were still well down on the 2019 result, lagging September last year by 14.9 per cent (-159 trucks).

Just 905 heavy trucks were delivered for the month, the worst September deliveries in four years.

The Medium Duty segment continues to follow its bigger sibling’s losses, recording negative growth of 17.2 per cent in the third quarter of 2020. By the end of September only 1571 MD truck sales had been recorded for the quarter, down 327 vehicles over the same period in 2019.

Year-to-date, medium-duty truck sales stand at only 4836, that is down 14.8 per cent for the year (-837 MD trucks). The month of September saw an even bigger fall, down 16.8 per cent (-105 trucks) over September 2019. A total of just 517 medium trucks were delivered in September.

Light-duty truck sales (those vehicles between 3500kg and 8000kg GVM) have been less effected in 2020 and quarter three saw this trend continue. The quarter saw 2745 trucks sold, down 304 units over the third quarter 2019, which represented a fall of 10.0 per cent for the period. For the year-to-date,

Light duty sales are tracking down 6.6 per cent (-567 LD trucks), with a total of exactly 8000 light trucks delivered to the end of September. Looking at the month of September 2020 in isolation, 907 little trucks were delivered, down 8.0 per cent (-79 trucks) over September 2019.

The light-duty Van segment has been the least effected in 2020, though still down when compared to recent years’ results. The month of September saw light-duty van sales (vans with a GVM between 3500 kg and 8000 kg) in positive territory compared to the 2019 result.

A total of 529 vans were delivered for the month, up 6.2 per cent (31 vans) over September 2019. LD vans posted a total of 1541 sales for the months of July to September, down 88 vans over the same period in 2019, that was a quarter-three loss of 5.4 per cent. The year-to-date result is very similar, with van sales down 5.3 per cent for the year to the end of September. A total of 4550 LD vans have been sold so far in 2020, trailing 2019 sales by 253 vans.

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Tony McMullan, CEO of the Truck Industry Council commented that the September and quarter three results were in line with expectations.

“We are now seeing the market stabilise due to the ongoing effects of COVID-19 with month-on-month sales in quarter three showing a reasonable degree of stability as we had expected,” he said.

“As we have seen from March onward, the Heavy and medium-duty segments continue to take the brunt of the fall in sales. New vehicle deliveries in both light-duty segments have been less effected and this, we believe, is a clear indication of the effectiveness of the federal government’s instant asset write-off incentive of $150,000 that has been extended to the end of 2020.”

“The Truck industry Council and our members continue to promote the federal government’s financial incentives, particularly to operators wishing to purchase a truck costing more than $150,000.

“The COVID-19 Accelerated Depreciation incentive allows the purchaser of a truck priced over $150,000 to claim over 50 per cent of the new truck’s value back at tax time.”

In concluding, Mr McMullan referenced the pending Federal Budget announcement: “With new trucks sales at levels reminiscent of the post Global Financial Crisis era, TIC and our members will be looking toward further financial stimulus announcements in the upcoming Federal Budget, in order to encourage trucks sales, particularly at the heavy end of the market.”

1. Isuzu – 6107 (-7.1%)
2. Hino – 3804 (-7.1%)
3. Fuso – 2515 (-2.2%)
4. Volvo – 1381 (-17.6%)
5. Kenworth – 1316 (-22.0%)

Total for September: 2858 (-9.8%)
Total YTD: 24,813 (-13.0%)

1. Volvo – 1319 (-20.3%)
2. Kenworth – 1316 (-22.0%)
3. Isuzu – 937 (-18.6%)
4. Scania – 628 (-26.6%)
5. Mercedes-Benz – 588 (-24.0%)

Total for September: 905 (-16.7%)
Total YTD: 7427 (-21.9%)

1. Isuzu – 1957 (-12.4%)
2. Hino – 1633 (-6.5%)
3. Fuso – 787 (-3.0%)
4. MAN - 162 (-68.8%)
5. IVECO – 107 (+18.9%)

Total for September: 517 (-16.9%)
Total YTD: 4836 (-14.8%)

1. Isuzu – 3213 (+0.8%)
2. Hino – 1817 (-4.8%)
3. Fuso – 1463 (+3.4%)
4. IVECO – 608 (-17.4%)
5. FIAT – 351 (-18.9%)

Total for September: 907 (-8.0%)
Total YTD: 8000 (-6.6%)

1. Mercedes-Benz – 1664 (-21.8%)
2. Renault – 891 (+6.5%)
3. Volkswagen – 841 (+40.6%)
4. Ford – 716 (+6.9%)
5. IVECO – 226 (-10.7%)

Total for September: 529 (+6.2%)
Total YTD: 4550 (-5.3%)