Truck sales figures from the Truck Industry Council for the month of September reveal that while there is some softening in parts of the industry, volumes year on year and for September are up on 2022 figures.
Truck sales for the month totalled 3954, a narrow 26 ahead of September 2022 ensuring the year to date sales volume for this year is 3217 trucks on the first nine months of 2022.
Given September last year was an all time record for the ninth month ,the result this September has set a new benchmark, albeit by a small margin. With three months to run, only a major disaster will prevent this year setting a new record for truck sales. With monthly sales regularly topping 3500 sales per month, the industry woul dnbeed to sink below 3000 sales per month to miss out on a new record.
Isuzu had another pleasing month to lead the market, even though its numbers were slightly down on its result in 2022. The market leader sold 1060 trucks in September, down about 228 on the same month last year, while its market share fell to 26.8 per cent, from 32.8 per cent this time in 2022. While the September numbers are off a little for Isuzu, it is still 702 units ahead of its YTD figures from 2022.
Hino was second overall with 447 sales in September, capturing 11.3 per cent market share , while Japanese rival Fuso was third with 388 sales and 9.8 per cent share, down 80 trucks on its September ’22 tally.
The fight for the heavy duty sector honours and for fourth place in the overall sales charts continues in a close fought tussle between Volvo and Kenworth. The two locally assembled brands have been trading numbers all year with Kenworth leading the honours in September, following Volvo’s wins in the last few months. Kenworth topped the heavy sales tally in September with 304 trucks and 21.8 per cent market share, all in the heavy duty sector, while Volvo only managed 274 trucks, of which 262 were heavy duty models giving it and 18.8 per cent share of the class. While Volvo was ahead in the Heavy tally by 16 trucks at the end of August, Kenworth’s strong result last month has put it 26 trucks in front of its Swedish rival in September.
Mercedes Benz was sixth overall in September, selling 156 trucks, with Scania seventh on 131, Iveco on 129, with Mack next on 83 and UD rounding out the top ten with 80 units for the month.
With most of the attention focussed on Kenworth and Volvo’s battle for ascendency, it could be easy to overlook Isuzu at third for the Heavy Duty sector with 186 sales for its fleet of largely vocational offerings, which have benefited greatly since the demise of the locally built Iveco Acco. Scania had another bumper month with all its 131 sales coming in the heavy sector to be fourth, while Mercedes was fifth with `06 heavy sales.
Mack had another strong month with 83 heavy duty sales , ahead of UD on 73, Fuso on 65 , DAF with 53 and Hino on 39 rounding out the top ten. Behind that came Iveco with 27 new S-Ways, Freightliner with 26 Cascadias, MAN on 21 and Penske stablemate Western Star on 18, while Dennis Eagle and Hyundai both cracked with singles.
In the medium sector Isuzu knocked it out of the park once more recording 301 sales for the month to lead with a massive 46.6 per cent share of the class. Hino also had a strong showing after months of supply and other issues, registering 202 sales for 31.3 per cent share, while Fuso was well behind with 86 sales and 13.3 per cent share.
Years after it first arrived in the market Hyundai looks like it is starting to gather a sliver of traction in medium duty finishing in fourth with 17 sales for September and 2.6 per cent share. From little things big things could grow, but if there is a brand that could eventually take it to the dominant Japanese brands then the well know Korean brand could.
Behind Hyundai Volvo finished with 12 medium trucks , ahead of stablemate UD and Iveco both with seven, Mercedes and Sea Electric each with five, DAF with three and Man with a single medium in September.
In the light duty class Isuzu, was first and daylight was again second. The market leader moved 573 light trucks for 44 per cnet share of the class, while Fuso beat out Hino for second with sales of 237 Canters and 18.2 per cent share, compared with Hino’s 206 300 Series which gave it 15.8 per cent share of the category.
The Euro brands filled the next four spots in light duty with Iveco registering 95 Daily cab chassis models, Fiat 70 of its Ducato high trucks, Mercedes with 45 Sprinters and Renault with 38 Masters.
The surprise rising star in the light sector was Chinese brand Foton Mobility with 21 sales, all of them electric. Foton has gone from nothing just six months ago to have 1.6 per cent of the sector with rumours the brand has captured some significant fleet business with asn expanding number of deliveries in coming months catering to fleets looking to with to zero emission. Foton beat out Hyundai which had a reasonable month with 14 trucks, while VW and Ford carved up the remainder with three and one sales respectively.
In vans Renault beat long time segment leader Mercedes , having sold 192 of its Master vans just piping its German rival by two units, while Fiat was third with 74 sales of its Ducato and VW moved 70 Crafters while Ford sold 58 Transits and Iveco posted a disappointing 25 Daily van sales, which may be down to the model chase over and lack of stock.
Kenworth and Volvo are sure to keep duking it out over the next three months with the Swedish maker determined to try to take the heavy crown from its long time rival while plenty of focus will also be in whether the market can break the sales volume record yet again. Time will only tell how the remainder of the year will pan out.
