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.
