Truck sales slow, but heavy holds steady

The latest new truck and van T-Mark sales data from the Truck Industry Council shows sales contracted for most segments during the month of February, with falls recorded across all the major truck categories.

A total of 2827 new vehicles were registered for the month, the figure down 5.8 per cent from the same period last year, while the year-to-date tally now stands at 5023 units – down 3.9%.

While there's plenty of red ink across the latest figures, it should be noted that the start to any year normally features fluctuations as truck brands transition their sales from one year to the next, and in any case these latest figures show a fall compared to a year in which Australia's truck market set an all-time sales record.

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In the overall figures, Isuzu is entering its 30th consecutive year of sales dominance at the top of the leaderboard, although the 1127 new vehicles it has registered thus far do equate with a drop of 5.2% over the previous corresponding period.

Hino comes next with 767 units registered to the end of February, up 3.5% on this time last year, followed by Fuso (437 units, down 11.5%), Kenworth (364 units, up 7.4%) and Volvo, the latter storming ahead with 298 units – a jump of 38.6%.

At the heavy end of the market, the 963 new trucks registered in February are down just slightly (by 1.0%) when compared with February 2018 – but the year-to-date tally of 1732 trucks is 0.2% up.

Traditional heavy-duty segment leader Kenworth has recorded 364 units to the end of February, up 7.4%, while second-placed Volvo has registered 291 units, which represents impressive growth of 38.6%.

That leaves Isuzu trailing in third (241 units, down 6.6%), followed by Mercedes-Benz (149 units, up 1.4%) and Mack (145 units, down 1.4%).

A total of 546 new trucks were registered in the medium-duty segment in February, the figure equating with a drop of 7.3% over the same month last year, while the year-to-date tally now stands at 986 units – a drop of 3.9%

Here it's Isuzu leading the charge with 346 trucks registered to the end of February – that's growth of 6.8% – followed by Hino (320 units, up 9.6%), Fuso (133 units, down 16.9%), MAN (103 units, down 37.2%) and UD Trucks (46 units, down 6.1%).

The light-duty truck market also cooled in February, the 874 vehicles registered delivering a contraction of 6.6%. Overall some 1465 light-duty trucks have been registered so far this year, which is 7.3% down on the previous corresponding period.

Isuzu leads with year-to-date sales of 540 units, the figure down 6.6% on the same time last year, followed by Hino with 379 units (up 3.8%).

That leaves Fuso to round out the light-duty podium (251 units, down 12.8%), followed by IVECO (107 units, down 30.1%) and Renault (63 units, up 231.6%).

A total of 444 new vehicles were registered in the light-duty van category in February, which is 11.7% down on the same month last year, giving a year-to-date total of 840 units – a drop of 5.8%.

Mercedes-Benz leads with its Sprinter platform achieving 295 sales to the end of February, a drop of 19.0%, followed by Renault (178 units, down 4.3%), Ford (147 units, down 4.5%), Volkswagen (85 units, up 9.0%) and Fiat (65 units, up 6.1%).

While these latest figures largely represent falls for most of the major categories, they're falls recorded off the back of a stellar 2018. Any transitional fluctuations should normalise by the end of the first quarter of 2019, giving us a clearer picture of whether the hard-charging Australian truck market may have peaked, or if even better times lie ahead.

"The market is starting to normalise after better than expected sales in January," said Tony McMullan, CEO of Truck Industry Council.

"The good January result was likely due to the fulfilling of December 2018 orders that were delayed due to vehicle supply issues, body builder backlogs and the short working month due to the festive season.

"After January's sales were known, I cautioned about reading too much into those numbers. The combination of January and February sales shows the market tracking down on the record sales of last year, but the result is the third best start to a year on record.

"I believe that due to the volatility seen in the first two months of this year we will have to wait another month, or two, before we can truly gain a sense of where the Australian heavy commercial vehicle market may track in 2019."