The Australian heavy vehicle market took another hit in April with overall sales for trucks and vans over 3.5 tonnes down 16 per cent on the figures from April 2025, while the year to date numbers for the first four months of the year showing a drop of 12.85 per cent compared with last year.
The industry registered 2871 trucks and vans in Australia last month down from the 3418 it sold this time last year while the tally for the first four months sits at 12003 vehicles, well behind the 13773 for the same period in 2025, according to the Truck Industry Council’s T-Mark monthly sales reports.
Despite the continued downturn in the commercial vehicle market, senior executive from most of the top selling truck companies aren’t too fazed by the numbers and most are predicting an uptick in sales come 2027.
Isuzu was again number one overall as it powers on toward another year of market supremacy. The brand registered 709 trucks in April to capture almost a quarter of the overall market with 24.7 per cent share. This time last year the market leader moved 992 trucks in the month, so its volume was down just over 28 per cent year on year.
Second placed Hino continues to buck expectations with another strong month in April. The brand has spent the last 18 months managing sales expectations in the market, warning that it would not have any new medium duty product available for most of this year and a reduced number of light duty models as well. Despite that Hino registered 335 trucks in April, just five units off what it sold in April last year.
The company is positioning the lower end of its 700 series heavy models to meet some of the demand that it can’t meet with no medium duty 500s available, a strategy which it hopes will come into its own as the year wears on.
Fuso also went against the tide, selling a total of 256 trucks in April, 14 trucks ahead of its April 25 result and enough to cement a solid third in the overall market.
Heavy duty market leader Kenworth was fourth overall as well as topping the heavy sector with 208 trucks registered for the month, down on the 271 it sold this time last year but again ahead of its Swedish heavy duty rival, Volvo.
The Brisbane based Swedish brand registered 177 trucks, of which 167 were in the heavy sector and ten units in the medium segment placing it second in the top class and fifth in the market overall.
Just nine trucks behind Volvo, Isuzu sold 158 heavy duties in another strong performance in the premier class.
Scania was sixth in the overall market and fourth in the heavy market selling 98 trucks, all of them in the top class. Iveco was seventh with a total of just 79 across all classes, while Mercedes-Benz was eighth with 68 sales, 58 of them in heavy along with six medium duty and five light duty Sprinter based machines.
DAF came in ninth overall with 59 sales and Fiat filled out the top ten by registering 49 of its Ducato based light trucks.
The heavy duty sector saw a total of 1005 trucks sold last month down 9.4 per cent from the 1110 it sold in 2025.
Medium duty was also well down on its numbers from April last year with the sector registering 360 trucks last month, down 40 per cent on the sectors 600 units it logged in April 2025.
Light Duty was the only truck class that registered a rise year on year, registering 888 machines last month, a meagre rise of just 1.8 per cent or 16 trucks on the same month last year, but a rise all the same.
Isuzu was the standout in medium duty sales capturing 52.5 per cent of the sector, selling 189 medium duty models, well clear of Fuso which was second with a total of 68 trucks for 18.9 per cent share of the segment, while Hino was third with just 47 medium duty registrations for 13.1 per cent.
Iveco was next best in mediums with 21 sales ahead of Volvo with ten, Hyundai with eight, Mercedes-Benz with six and DAF with five, while MAN scored four and UD and Foton one each.
A total of 362 light duty registrations saw Isuzu top the small truck sector, 136 units ahead of Hino which registered 226 of its 300 Series models, while Fuso registered 135 of its Canters.
Behind the leading trio of Japanese makers came Fiat with a total of 49 Ducato based light duty trucks, ten ahead of its former corporate sibling in the Agnelli automotive portfolio, Iveco which sold 39 of its Daily based trucks.
VW was next with 24 Crafter based cab chassis trucks just ahead of the Chinese electric brand Foton Mobility, which sold 20 of its battery electric machines, seven ahead of Hyundai, with Mercedes selling five and Renault, Ford and Foton (ICE power) models, each registering a single light duty model.
In the van sector Mercedes-Benz was again back on top with 190 Sprinters sold in April, capturing 30.7 per cent of the sector, with LDV securing second in the van market with 148 units, 20 ahead of the fast improving Ford and its popular Transit models.
Behind them Volkswagen was next best with 63 Crafter sales, Fiat with 43 Ducatros and Renault with 35 Masters.
Iveco sold a very meagre nine Daily models and Peugeot trailed the field with just two of its Boxer large vans.
