As predicted the Australian heavy vehicle market has recorded a third consecutive record year result, with 51,277 trucks and heavy vans being sold in the 12 months to the end of December, a seven per cent increase on the 2023 result.
However most believe the industry will face an uphill battle to achieve another record in 2025, with the long queues for orders placed during the post Covid boom time in 2022 and ‘23, along with the lengthy wait times at body builders, having created an ongoing pipeline of orders that is still being fulfilled. However truck industry executives report order intake has slowed considerably in the last few months and that the prospect of a record in 2025 is unlikely.
Isuzu again topped the sales charts bringing up its 36th year of sales supremacy as number one in the Australian truck market, selling 13402 trucks in 2024, down 1.8 per cent or just 256 units on its result last year. The weight of Isuzu’s performance again means that it will be many years before any of its competitors could potentially if ever take the crown,
Next best Hino was more than 8000 units adrift of Isuzu’s performance, underlining just how strong the perennial leader is and continues to be. As mentioned previously in Truck and Bus News, Hino will face a world of pain later this year, with a major disruption in supply from its parent company in Japan. That situation will hurt Hino and may benefit its rivals Isuzu and Fuso and may hurt the market overall.
The spread of increases and decreases in sales was varied across the different brands, with some soaring and others losing sales compared with the same months in 2023. The patchy performances most likely come back to individual delays at body builders and in shipments of trucks from overseas factories.
Isuzu registered 1184 trucks in December, 124 units or 11.7 per cent more than it did in the same month last year, while Hino was down 94 trucks or 18 per cent on its December 2023 result. Similarly, Fuso was also down 12.4 per cent on its December result in 2023 with its 323 registrations in the last month of 2024 being 46 trucks less than it was in 2023. It drew a line under what has been a patchy year for the Daimer owned Japanese brand.
Fuso’s results for the year saw it scrape into third place overall in the sales race, just 53 trucks clear of the entirely heavy duty sales result for Kenworth in 2024. In fact the Paccar heavy duty brand outsold Fuso again in December, a result it scored several times in the closing months of the year.
Kenworth’s particularly strong results in the second half saw it absolutely street its Swedish rival Volvo to not only take fourth behind the three Japanese volume brands, but also comprehensively out distance Volvo in overall and heavy duty sales.
While Volvo had a slender lead in the heavy duty sales battle mid-year, Kenworth fought back strongly finishing the year with a very impressive December result, that we mentioned earlier, placed it third overall for the month with 358 registrations, while also finishing half the length of the home straight ahead of Volvo in the heavy duty sector for the month and for the year.
While Kenworth registered 358 trucks in December, Volvo could only manage 220 sales in December, if which 211 where heavy duty and just nine were mediums. The performance actually saw the Swede outsold by Japanese rival Isuzu with 220 sales in the heavy sector. The final month performance placed Volvo 611 trucks behind Kenworth for the year in the prestigious heavy duty sector, while Isuzu’s performance across all 12 months placed it third with a total of 2481 heavy sales for the year.
Kenworth sold 120 more trucks in 2024 than it did in 2023, while Volvo
Here at Truck and Bus News we can’t imagine Isuzu’s booming heavy duty sales will make it any easier for it to gain access for Australian use of the UD-Volvo 13 litre it now markets in its own trucks in Japan, as well as in the UD brand it purchased.
Scania was fourth in heavy in December with 95 trucks, topping off a record year for the second Swedish brand with 1459 sales for the year in total, all of them in the heavy sector. Hino was next in fifth with 77 heavy sales, while Mercedes-Benz sold 68, Mack 62 and Fuso, with Iveco on 54 and UD rounding out the top ten in heavies with 49.
Daimler’s US brand Freightliner continues to disappoint with its sales performance Down Under despite great hopes for the very fine Cascadia, selling just 16 in heavy duty in December. The result and made its tally for 2024 just 264 trucks, well short of the expectations placed on the brand when Cascadia was launched.
In medium duty sector sales were up slightly on 2023 with 8132 trucks sold in the segment for the 12 months to the end of the year, only 128 units more than in 2023, but a lift none the same.
Isuzu again took the honours as leading light in the medium sector both for December and for the year with 345 trucks sold in the final month, equating to 48.9 per cent share of the sector. Isuzu finished the year with a class leading tally of 4116 medium duties registered giving it 50.6 per cent share.
Hino finished 2024 with a slightly higher sales result in medium duty with 2371 of its trucks registered, 107 more than the full 2023 results. The Toyota owned brand had a quiet December monthly result however with its sales slightly off compared with the same period in the previous year, down from 258 units to 215 fir December ’24. Fuso finished the year 181 trucks behind its 2023 tally of 2264 units, although its December tally of 93 was up six units on the result for the same month in ’23.
Iveco with 22 medium duty sales was the only other brand in double figures, while Volvo had a nine truck tally in the sector, UD six, Mercedes, Hyundai and MAN, each with five and DAF with just one medium for the month. SEA Electric and Freightliner didn’t bother the scorer.
In the light duty class Isuzu romped away with a commanding 53.2 per cent share of the sector thanks to its bumper harvest of 619 trucks, almost 100 more than in December ’23. The final month result gave it a year end light duty tally of 6805 trucks, more than three times the total of its nearest rival Fuso.
Fuso may have had some disappointing results in other categories but the Daimler team kicked a few goals in light duty on 2024, out selling its Toyota owned rival Hino for much of the second half and in the final month in particular. Fuso sol 171 trucks in December for 14.7 per cent share, giving it a tally of 2064 light duties for the year.
In contrast, Hino had an annual total of 1909 trucks last year, a 1018 truck drop on its 2023 result when the brand moved 2928 light duty models. Hino’s December monthly tally saw it move just 134 light duty models, with the brand facing a multitude of challenges in the year ahead, as explained earlier.
Behind the three leading Japanese brands Iveco registered 100 of its Daily based truck variants, while fellow Europeans Renault with 59, and VW with 32 were next. Hyundai’s 14 light duty sales, Ford with 11 along with nine for both Mercedes and LDV rounded out the top ten. Foton Mobility recorded just three of its all electric models and Fiat just two.
In the heavy van sector Mercedes donated with 359 of its Sprinter models registered in December, almost double of its Chinese rival LDV, which sold 159 of its Deliver models, while Ford with 143, Renault with 120, Iveco with 75 and VW with 36 out pointed Fiat’s meagre six van tally and Peugeot’s single sale in the sector for December.
The Truck Industry Council, who compiles and presents the monthly commercial vehicle sales reports said It was pleasing to see truck sales hold up well in 2024 and van sales strengthen to record levels.
Its CEO, Tony McMullen said that this was despite challenging economic conditions throughout 2024 in Australia.
“It was equally pleasing to see a new annual new truck and van sales record that exceed the 50,000 mark for the first time ever,” said McMullen.
“However, despite these record new truck sales, the TIC and our members, remain concerned that the average age of the Australian truck fleet remains much older than that of Europe and North America,” he said.
“An old truck fleet is not conducive to improved safety, public health and environmental outcomes for our society, and moving into an election year in 2025, we must consider what more can be done by both industry and particularly government, to reduce the age of our nation’s truck fleet.” McMullan concluded.
