The doomsayers will no doubt have a spin to put on the latest TIC market figures but anyway you cut Australian truck and van sales had another strong month in October with overall sales increasing 4.6 per cent on September figures. Isuzu continued its dominance at the top of the overall sales and Kenworth held the crown in heavy duty sales, albeit with a reduced market share for the month as Volvo gnawing away at its lead.
The total sales for the month across all sectors and brands tallied 2998 units in October compared with 2863 sales in September
Heavy duty sales were up 4. 1 per cent in October when compared with September with 871 big trucks sold compared with 836 the previous month while Medium duty dropped 5.5 per cent on September with 594 sales registered compared with 629 in September a surprising drop for a segment that has been the engine room of sales growth in recent times.
In Light Duty Isuzu held top sport with 37.9 per cent of the segment and 401 units moved for the month almost double number two Hino’s tally of 202 sales and 19.1 per cent of the market with Fuso taking third on 144 sales and 13.1 per cent of the segment. Fiat posted a massive month to oust corporate cousin Iveco out of fourth spot with Fiat posting 103 sales and 9.7 per cent of sales in light duty. Iveco impressive September sales where it logged 127 units and 12.7 percent market share a figure that dwindled to just 50 units in October with only 4.7 per cent share.
Isuzu’s dominance in Medium Duty continued marginally increasing its market share registering 272 sales for the month for 45.8 per cent of the segment although its sales tally matched the medium duty bracket, dropping 13 units on its September volume. Hino’s 29.8 per cent of the mid duty market represented 177 sales, down six units on September while Fuso also dropped volume registering 88 trucks in October and 14.8 per cent share compared with the 99 it logged in the previous month. UD was fourth with 37 unit sales and 6.2 per cent share.
Kenworth dropped 26 sales in October compared with its 195 sales in heavy duty in September. The Paccar brand dropped 3.9 per cent market share losing most of that to rival Volvo Group with Volvo heavy duty capturing 141 sales, 23 more than its September sales as sister brand Mack posted 107 sales, up 22 units. Isuzu which has had a purple patch in heavy sales in recent times, particularly in the concrete agitator market dropped 23 units and 3.3 per cent share on the previous month’s results, logging 108 sales and 12.4 per cent market share in October.
If VGA’s three brands, Volvo, Mack and UD are tallied together the Swedish Group’s dominance is quite compelling holding 27.1 per cent of heavy sales for the year to date logging 2129 sales across the brands compared with Paccar’s total sales year to date of 1827 across Kenworth and DAF with a 23.1 per cent share of heavy sales overall.
