Australian truck sales continued in the doldrums in February with total sales down more than 400 units or 12.8 per cent compared with the same month in 2025, as the market struggles to match the record years of 2023 and 2024.
Every sector of the market apart from vans was down in February with heavy duty off 12.6 per cent, medium duty off a whopping 36 per cent and light duty down 22.2 per cent, while vans sprinted ahead with a 17.8 per cent uptick in sales on the same month last year.
It almost goes without saying that Isuzu led the overall market yet again moving 874 trucks for the month, down 355 units or 34.5 per cent on this time last year when it moved 1029 trucks. The market leader captured 22.4 per cent of the overall market , which was also down on the 29.9 per cent overall market share it snared in February 2025.
Behind Isuzu Hino was second overall with 304 registrations, down 12.4 per cent or 43 trucks on its result last February . Meanwhile Fuso slotted into third with 261 registrations, only five units behind its 2025 result.
Underlining that heavy duty sales are taking a big hit, Kenworth sat in its usual third place in the overall market but with a tally of 184 it was down 25 per cent on the 248 sales it recorded last year. However Kenworth again got a jump on its long time rival Volvo, with the Swedish brand finishing the month exactly 40 trucks behind the Paccar brand. All but three of Volvo’s tally were heavy duty, but in the heavy sector it was again outsold by market leader Isuzu which finished 16 trucks ahead of Volvo for the month.
Scania had an outstanding month to finish sixth in the market overall with 93 trucks, al of them in heavy duty, which was in fact one unit ahead of the tally it had in February last year.
Iveco was seventh overall with a total of 87 registrations, most of them light duty with its Daily models, while it shifted just 25 heavy duty and 16 medium duty models.
Mercedes was eighth with 78 units, spread across 39 heavies, nine mediums and 30 light duty Sprinter based cab/chassis models. DAF with 72 trucks and Mack and UD both with 59 each shared the final spot in the top ten.
It seems that Isuzu is cementing itself as a real contender for market leadership in heavy duty , regularly bettering Volvo last year and often finishing a close second to ever dominant Kenworth. Isuzu is third behind Volvo year to date after two months, but only seven trucks behind. To some extent Isuzu has benefitted from Iveco dropping away in the vocational sector of heavy duty since the demise of its locally made Acco, while the Japanese maker seems always to be seeking out new niches in the heavy end of the market. It finished 26 trucks behind Kenworth in February but is 98 units behind year to date.
Behind the big three battling out at the top of HD the 93 trucks that Scania sold stood out as exceptional for the other Swede, which finished with a 9.3 per cent share of the sector to be fourth.
DAF was fifth with 71 units, Mack sixth with 59, UD just two units behind in seventh on 57, while Fuso was a further two units behind with 55 of its Shogun models to be eighth in HD, ten units ahead of rival Hino in ninth and Mercedes-Benz taking tenth in the segment with 39 trucks.
Isuzu dominated medium duty sales claiming 58.5 per cent of the segment ringing up 213 trucks, down 60 medium duty models compared with what it sold last year.
In some ways daylight was second in medium duty, to borrow a horse racing term, but with Fuso taking second with 16.9 per cent share and tally of 61 trucks the gap up to Isuzu was immense.
Hino, clearly starting to feel the pain of its well publicised supply issues, was third with just 47 medium duty sales, while Iveco was another gulf away with 16 medium sales to be fourth in the segment.
From there down it was all single figures, with Mercedes next on nine trucks, Hyundai and MAN on four, Volvo and Ford finished with three each and UD on two.
Light duty saw Isuzu lead with 304 and 38.5 per cent of the segment, 92 trucks ahead of second placed Hino, while Fuso was third with 145 units.
Despite the segment tally being down on February last year, the three leading Japanese brands were this year all ahead of their sales totals for the same period.
Iveco was fourth in light duty with 46 sales of its Daily cab/chassis, and Fiat witjh its similar Ducato was fifth with 37, ahead of Mercedes Sprinter with 30 and Hyundai on 11 and LDV on five, while Ford and Renault sold three each. Interestingly Foton Mobility registered none of its electric machines in February while VW also scored a duck egg.
In vans Mercedes-Benz had a disappointing month relinquishing segment leadership to LDV, with the Chinese brand registering 238 units to the German rival’s 217, while Foird with its revitalised Transit was third with 153.
Renault was next with 92 vans, VW with 70 while Iveco registered 56 Daily vans and Fiat 37, well ahead of Peugeot with a lowly tally of just three vans.
It is clear 2026 wll a long tough year in the truck market, bu many are prediciting things will bounce back in 2027.
