ANOTHER STRONG SALES MONTH SETS UP A RUN FOR A NEW TRUCK MARKET RECORD

The Australian truck market continues to astound with its strong performance  and outstanding numbers despite the ongoing Covid crisis  that has seen lockdowns again through July.

Despite all that TIC’s T-Mark sales figures for July have the total sales numbers almost line ball with the record setting year of 2018, in fact the year to date figures to the end of July this year were only 98 trucks away from the total at  the end of July in 2018.

The July 2021 numbers saw a total of 3296  trucks sold in Australia compared with 3344 in 2018 and this year’s numbers were not surprisingly well ahead of the figures from July 2020 when 2891 trucks were sold.

Isuzu  was naturally enough  the  market leader again with 756 sales to  be well ahead of  Hino in second with 464 sales, after its stellar performance in June. Hino and Isuzu may have been suffering hangovers from impressive performances in June, with both brands dropping around 300 units month on month.

Fuso on the other hand  was impressive with 398 sales to be within 66 units and two percentage points of Hino for the month. Fuso has in fact recorded the largest increase in market share year to date  for any manufacturer with a 1.6 per cent gain  in its share. Fuso’s Fighter is the most improved model with 3.8 per cent increase in its market share, which Fuso has explained is down to the addition of a safety pack which has been embraced by  major plus for fleets. Who says safety doesn’t sell?

OVERALL MARKET.  VOL.     %

ISUZU 756 22.9
HINO 464 14.1
FUSO 398 12.1
KENWORTH 211 6.4
MERCEDES-BENZ 153 4.6
VOLVO 164 5.
IVECO 118 3.6
SCANIA 102 3.1
UD TRUCKS 84 2.5
MACK 41 1.2
FIAT 68 2.1
DAF 60 1.8
FREIGHTLINER 32 1.

Kenworth  was fourth in the overall market and  continued to rule the Heavy Duty sector registering 211 sales  for the month 49 trucks ahead of arch rival Volvo, which  while apparently still suffering supply issues has started to recover ground, registering 162 heavy trucks  and two medium duty units in July.

Mercedes Benz  with 153  units for the month, again benefited from its Sprinter based cab chassis trucks in light duty that contributed 49 sales to the tally even though they are actually distributed by a different company within the Daimler Group. Benz also sold 8 medium duty models, which meant its 96 heavy duty trucks put it behind Scania with 102 and Isuzu with 97 heavy duty sales.

HEAVY DUTY JULY. Vol.   %

KENWORTH 211 20.7
VOLVO 162 15.9
SCANIA 102 10.
ISUZU 97 9.5
MERCEDES-BENZ 96 9.4
UD TRUCKS 59 5.8
DAF 56 5.5
MACK 41 4.
FUSO 39 3.8
WESTERN STAR 37 3.6
HINO 32 3.1
FREIGHTLINER 32 3.1
IVECO 28 2.7
MAN 22 2.2
DENNIS EAGLE 7 .7

In Medium duty Isuzu surged ahead of Hino  for the month moving 210 trucks to Hino’s 168, while Fuso sold 107 in the sector for July.  UD was next best with 25 while Benz eight hardly bothered the scorer.

MEDIUM DUTY  Vol.             %

ISUZU 210 39.3
HINO 168 31.5
FUSO 107 20.
UD TRUCKS 25 4.7
MERCEDES-BENZ 8 1.5
IVECO 5 .9
MAN 4 .7
DAF 4 .7
VOLVO 2 .4
HYUNDAI 1 .2
DENNIS EAGLE 0 0
Total Truck 534   100

In light duty Isuzu’s 449  was way ahead of Hino’s 264  with Fuso close on its heels with 252  for the month in the tiddler class. Iveco was the next best with its Daily cab chassis selling 85 units.

LIGHT DUTY              Vol.       % 

ISUZU 449 37.4
HINO 264 22.
FUSO 252 21.
IVECO 85 7.1
FIAT 68 5.7
MERCEDES-BENZ 49 4.1
FORD 14 1.2
RENAULT 10 .8
HYUNDAI 9 .7
VOLKSWAGEN 2 .2
Total Light Duty 1202   100

In the van sector Mercedes Benz had an extraordinary result moving 277 months to take 51.4  per cent of the van market with its Sprinter, outselling the next best  brand, Renault by almost three to one with 99 of the French vans registered in July, while Volkswagen was third with 55 units.

VANS                               Vol.       % 

MERCEDES-BENZ 277 51.4
RENAULT 99 18.4
VOLKSWAGEN 55 10.2
FIAT 53 9.8
FORD 30 5.6
IVECO 25 4.6
Total Vans 539   100

While various numbers were up and down, remarkably many brands had sales figures  close to their 2018 tallies. While Isuzu sold 82 less than it did three years ago, Hino was only one truck down on its 2018 numbers, Fuso sold 23  more last month, Kenworth was only 7 trucks down, Volvo 10 units and Mercedes was up 23, all of which illustrates just how close the market will go to scoring an all-time record this year, if the manufacturer’s order books are to be believed.