The Australian commercial vehicle market settled further into the semi-slumber it has been in for the past six months with the total market down around 11.5 per cent or 477 vehicles in August compared with the same month last year.
Isuzu topped the overall sales charts again, despite it sales also being down on the same point in 2024. In August last year Isuzu topped the charts with 1070 sales, while this year its tally was off by 53 units or 5.1 per cent at 1015.
Isuzu’s main rival and Japanese competitor, Hino is making hay while it can, as severe product shortages loom for the Toyota owned truck maker. Hino was able to beat out Fuso and Kenworth for second spot with a tally of 406 trucks, two less than it sold in August 2024.
In fact Kenworth was bumped back to third after managing podium finishes in recent months with totals that beat out Japanese Daimler brand Fuso. Fuso shifted 335 trucks last month, 46 more than it sold in the same month last year, putting it in third this time.
Kenworth was back in fourth overall, with an entirely heavy duty sales tally, that saw it move 267 trucks last month, a drop of 18 per cent or 60 trucks on its result in August last year.
The big K also decisively beat its heavy duty rival Volvo, which only managed a total of 165 trucks last month, with all but three of them heavy duty models.
Volvo’s tally placed it fifth overall in outright totals, while Scania finished in sixth with 101 sales, putting the Swede in sixth, just ahead of seventh placed Mercedes-Benz with 93, while Iveco was eighth with 79 trucks, and Fiat ninth on 63 sales with Mack rounding out the top ten on 61.
In heavy duty, as mentioned earlier, Kenworth dominated the sector as per usual with its 267 registrations for the month, putting it way ahead of Volvo in the battle for the heavy segment, particularly in year to date figures. To the end of August Kenworth had registered 2181 heavy duty models compared with Volvo’s 1512, putting the Paccar brand virtually out of reach of the Swedish brand for heavy supremacy, in yet another year.
Heavy duty sales totalled 1081 for the month which was 227 or 17 per cent behind August 2024 heavy duty sales.
While Isuzu has outsold Volvo in the heavy sector in a number of months recently, the Japanese maker had to settle for third with 154 heavy duty models. Scania placed fourth with 101 heavies, while Fuso with 73 units slipped past its parent brand Mercedes-Benz to take fifth. Mercedes and Mack were equal sixth on 61 heavies each, with Mack on 44, Hino on 40, and Iveco ninth in on 33, one ahead of UD taking tenth for the sector.
In medium duty sales Isuzu was way out in front with 250 registrations in the sector, taking 46.4 percent market share for the segment, while Hino was second with 164 registrations.
Fuso finished well behind in third with 92, and although it as a long way back, Hyundai finished fourth in the sector, admittedly with just 12 trucks for the month, while MAN shifted eight mediums to be fifth in the segment.
Isuzu also dominated light duty, with a bumper month for its new model range, shifting 611 of its popular N Series, selling better than three to one, by comparison to its rival Hino.
Hino sold 202 light duty model to be ahead of compatriot, and soon to be business partner, Fuso with 170 sales in the sector. Next best was Fiat with 63 trucks while Iveco moved 43, Renault and Mercedes with 27 a piece and VW on 26 to complete the European phalanx following on from the Japanese brands.
Behind that were 11 LDVs, five Hyundais, and four Fords as well as a single Foton electric truck.
Interestingly in the relatively new alternative power segment, which groups hybrid, battery electric and potentially other types of green power, Hino leads the pack with its hybrid diesel models bolstered by an electric motor selling 17 to top this sector.
Interestingly Fuso, with its pure battery electric trucks registered 13 of the all-electric eCanters to be second in the alternative fuel sector, while Volvo registered two battery electric machines and Chinese brand Foton Mobility as well as Hyundai both registering one electric truck for the month.
Hino tops the year to date tally in the sector with 118 registrations of its hybrid models for the year so far, ahead of Foton Mobility on 32, Mercedes-Benz on 30, Volvo on 25 and Fuso on 13.
Interestingly the alternative power truck market is line ball with numbers for the 2024 market, with the segment having moved 309 trucks at this point in 2024 and 317 so far this year.
We are told by a source within the alternative power truck market that Foton Mobility is expected to deliver around another 45 to 50 electric registrations this year at current forecasts, with some key deliveries to Woolworths and some local councils expected before December.
That is expected to put the Chinese EV brand at around 82 registrations by the end of December, compared with its 68 registrations for the full year 2024.
In the Van market Mercedes-Benz topped the category with 276 Sprinter registrations in August while Ford had a bumper month with 153 Transits, putting it ahead of the recently successful LDV brand which registered 138 of its Deliver 9 models. Renault was the only other van brand to break three figures with 113 registrations.
In the electric van market Ford sold five of its electric Transits, while LDV was the only other brand to trouble the scorer in electric powered vans, with one of its battery electric machines hitting the road in August.
We have a feeling that the subdued sales will continue on through the final four months of the year putting any records well out of reach by the time we get to January.
