One of the quiet achievers in the 2021 Australian truck sales charts was the Paccar owned European brand DAF, which posted a very impressive 24.7 per cent increase in its sales volume over the brand’s 2020 result in Australia.
In 2021 DAF sold 718 trucks compared with 503 total sales in 2020, while it was particularly impressive in the heavy duty sector where the Paccar sales team clearly capture a lot of hearts and minds for the Euro trucks. DAF sold 682 heavies in 2021, up from the 483 it sold in 2020, an increase of 41.2 per cent year on year. DAF captured 5.2 per cent of the heavy-duty market last year lifting its ranking to sixth amongst all the heavy brands, up one spot from 2020.
Importantly DAF’s sales in 2021 added to the ever impressive sales of Paccar’s senior brand Kenworth to give the US truck giant total heavy duty sales in Australia of 3520, helping it stay ahead of arch rival the Volvo Group with 2860 (combined Volvo, Mack and UD heavy sales) and Daimler Group’s 2232 sales in 2021 (Mercedes, Freightliner and Fuso heavy sales).
The 2021 result came as DAF production at the Bayswater plant has increased to three DAF prime mover variants including the CF 450 FTT with Sleeper Cab, the CF 480 FTT with Sleeper Cab and CF 530 FTT with Sleeper Cab, as well as its locally engineered and produced 8×4 rigid cab/chassis model – CF 340 FAD with Day Cab.
It’s not just here in Australia where DAF is able to ‘kwak’ about its sales results, the brand has registered an impressive result across the globe with its truck production tally reaching 60,000 units recently.
One of the highlights for DAF was the introduction of its New Generation DAF XF, XG and XG which roused enormous interest in Europe during 2021 and resulted in a full order book for the Eindhoven manufacturer.
Two of the new models have been acclaimed by major European awards with the XF, XG and XG being voted ‘International Truck of the Year 2022’ which cited the new standard they have set in relation to efficiency, safety and driver comfort.
DAF also won the coveted ‘Truck Innovation Award 2022’ for its XF H2 concept truck with hydrogen combustion engine.
DAF says that it was clearly a very challenging year due to the ongoing Covid pandemic but it was alios a challenging year for the company with the ongoing scarcity of parts and the challenges of the supply chain.
The company said that in fact, it was not the demand for trucks that ultimately determined the production numbers but rather the availability of silicon chips and other components that held back the sales numbers.
In 2021, about 49,000 heavy and medium duty CF and XF trucks came off the DAF production lines, compared with 37,600 in 2020, as well as about 11,000 LF distribution trucks up from 9,000 in 2020.
DAF says it achieved an overall European heavy duty market share of 15.9 per cent in 2021 down from16.3per cent in 2020. In Europe the heavy duty segment is defined as 16 tonne and above. Meanwhile it scored a 10.1 per cent share up slightly from 9.5 per cent in the light duty segment.
Not surprisingly DAF was the heavy duty market leader in its home country of the Netherlands with a 28.5 per cent slice of the market, as well as having a 29.4 per cent share in the UK, 24.3 Per cent in Poland, 24.8 per cent in Hungary (24.8%), 23.8 per cent in Bulgaria and 19 per cent in Portugal, giving the brand overall heavy duty prime mover market leadership across Europe.
DAF’s sales outside the EU totalled 8,600 trucks in 2021, up from 5,900 in 2020, with the company claiming strong performances in a range of countries including Ghana, Columbia, Brazil and of course Australia, while Taiwan, where DAF is the leading European brand, saw the 10,000th locally produced DAF come off the local production line.
DAF is also claiming that 2022 is shaping as a bright year for it in Europe and across the world.
“Thanks to the upturn in the economy, there is an increasing demand for trucks in Europe and with the New Generation DAF XF, XG and XG, DAF has an excellent product on its hands,” said Harry Wolters, president of DAF Trucks.
“These are the first and only trucks on the market to comply with the new European regulations for vehicle masses and dimensions, and that means that the XF, XG and XG set a new benchmark in the areas of efficiency, safety and driver comfort,” Wolters added.
“We expect the European truck market to reach somewhere between 260,000 and 300,000 vehicles in 2022 and thanks to our industry-leading model programme and first-class services, we are ready, together with our professional dealers, to achieve further growth,” he added
