Sales records tumble in June and first quarter

According to the official Truck Industry Council (TIC) market sales data base, new Heavy Vehicle sales in Australia continue to go from strength to strength, with the month of June further proof of a booming market.

June saw a number of long-standing records broken for new truck sales in Australia.

Firstly, the total number of heavy vehicles, Light Duty Trucks and Vans, Medium Duty Trucks and Heavy Duty Trucks sold in June month was 4231 units, surpassing the previous best June highs of 3879 set last year and the shared 2007 and 2009 mark of 3718 units.

June 2007 was, of course, pre-GFC with both the economy and truck sales flourishing, while the 2009 result was artificially affected by then federal government GFC incentives that saw a spike in sales at the end of the financial year, in a year that was otherwise quite forgettable for new truck sales.

Last year saw a healthy market and quite strong truck sales, though ultimately not record breaking by year end. The 4231 sales recorded this June is particularly significant because it represents the first time that the heavy truck and van market in Australia has broken through the 4000 vehicle mark for a single month.

The second record that was broken in June was that of new Heavy Duty truck deliveries. A total of 1433 Heavies were sold for the month, just eclipsing the previous record of 1421 set in June 2010.

The strong 2010 result was no doubt due to a significant end of financial year pre-buy of Euro 4 trucks before the then pending 2011 introduction of ADR80/03 (Euro 5). It was an unusually strong sales result in what was a bleak market gripped by post-GFC fears.

The third record to fall last month was that for Light Duty truck sales, with 1304 ‘little trucks’ sold, breaking the previous record of 1233 set in June 2017.

Finally, the overall half-year result for calendar year 2018 was also a new record with this year’s January to June result smashing the previous mid-year peak of 18,218 sales set in the pre-GFC year of 2008 by 1752 heavy vehicle sales. A total of 19,970 heavy vehicles have been delivered year-to date in 2018.

Sales breakdown
Taking a look at each of the four segments individually, the Heavy Duty truck segment has again performed strongly in June with 1433 HD deliveries, up 14.6 per cent (183 trucks) over the same month in 2017 and as was detailed above, a new record for the month of June.

Looking at quarter two 2018 in isolation, we again see a healthy performance from the HD sector, 3917 sales for April to June, up on the second quarter 2017 result by a significant 903 trucks (30.0 per cent). Looking at the first half year result, Heavy Duty trucks sales are in a much better place in 2018, 6820 sales verses 5131 sales to the end of June 2017, an improvement of almost a third, 32.9 per cent (1689 additional Heavy truck registrations).

The Medium Duty segment has been a real surprise so far in 2018 with strong sales growth over 2017 and June was another strong month for the segment. MD truck deliveries were 895 last month, up 20.5 per cent (152 trucks) over June 2017. The overall April to June remains strong with 2316 Mediums delivered in quarter two 2018, compared to 1943 for the same period in 2017, running 19.2 per cent above 2017 levels.

Year-to-date Medium Duty truck sales are performing very well with 4084 deliveries to the end of June 2018, up 23.0 per cent (763 trucks) on the 2017 half year result.

As was detailed above, the month of June was a new record for Light Duty truck sales (trucks with a GVM between 3500kg and 8000kg), with 1304 LD trucks delivered for the month, up 5.8 per cent (71 vehicles) over June 2017, which was the previous benchmark for the month of June. The 2018 quarter two result was also strong for LD trucks with 3446 trucks sold, up 329 units over the second quarter 2017 result of 3117 deliveries. For the first half year 6021 Light Duty truck have been delivered, comfortably ahead of the same period in 2017 by 10.5 per cent or 570 trucks.

Amongst all the good news there was a little dampener, with June Light Duty Van sales (vans with a GVM between 3500kg and 8000kg) down over 2017 June results. Only 599 LD Vans were delivered for the month, down 8.3 per cent (-54 vans) over June 2017. LD Vans posted a total of 1616 sales for the months of April to June, up slightly, 3.6 per cent (57 vans) over the same quarter in 2017, where 1559 vans were sold.

At the half way point of the year, the Van tally stands in positive territory at 3045 units, up on 2017 sales by 5.4 per cent (157 vans).

President of TIC, the peak industry body for truck manufacturers and importers into Australia, Phil Taylor, commented: “Firstly, cracking the 4000 mark for sales in a single month is a fantastic result for the industry. This capped off a great second quarter and combined with solid first quarter sales sees the market at record levels at the half way point of the year.

“I have said before that it has been a long road to recovery and I hope that the market strength we see currently continues for the remainder of the year and that 2018 will continue to re-write the history books.” Mr Taylor concluded.