Supply issues may be the thing that will stop the Australian truck market from breaking all-time records this year, with the European heavy duty models holding the sales numbers back, largely on the back of hold ups with silicone chips and other components that have caused delays in production.
Despite that the market was again extremely buoyant, with the total truck sales for the month of August reaching 3520 sales, 325 units behind the tally for August in the record year of 2018.
The August result means that the year to date tally so far is 26,736 , which is only 423 units behind the year to date tally for 2018. The major drops in sales came with the European heavy duty brands, which are the most affected by chip and component delays and production hold ups.
The three leading Japanese brands, Isuzu, Hino and Fuso all recorded exceptional sales in August, with Isuzu selling 889 trucks, up 6.2 per cent on its August 2018 result. Hino was up 2.3 per cent with 521 sales and Fuso was up 8.1 per cent with a very strong 410 sales.
Overall Sales August
| Manufacturer | TM | TM% | YTD | YTD% | |||
| ISUZU | 889 | 25.3 | 6413 | 24. | |||
| HINO | 521 | 14.8 | 4188 | 15.7 | |||
| FUSO | 410 | 11.6 | 2987 | 11.2 | |||
| KENWORTH | 289 | 8.2 | 1703 | 6.4 | |||
| MERCEDES-BENZ | 136 | 3.9 | 1162 | 4.3 | |||
| VOLVO | 131 | 3.7 | 1035 | 3.9 | |||
| IVECO | 108 | 3.1 | 884 | 3.3 | |||
| SCANIA | 74 | 2.1 | 752 | 2.8 | |||
| UD TRUCKS | 77 | 2.2 | 453 | 1.7 | |||
| DAF | 62 | 1.8 | 379 | 1.4 | |||
| MACK | 43 | 1.2 | 378 | 1.4 | |||
| FIAT | 43 | 1.2 | 363 | 1.4 | |||
| WESTERN STAR | 42 | 1.2 | 241 | .9 | |||
| FREIGHTLINER | 36 | 1. | 240 | .9 | |||
| MAN | 38 | 1.1 | 203 | .8 | |||
| HYUNDAI | 15 | .4 | 151 | .6 | |||
Behind the Japanese brands Kenworth had another exceptional month to be fourth overall and runaway leaders in Heavy duty, with the Paccar brand selling 289 trucks, all heavies, 20 more than it did in August 2018. Kenworth now leads the Heavy sector year to date with an almost unassailable lead of 694 trucks over Volvo, with four months sales remaining.
For Volvo to catch and pass Kenworth before December 31 would require it to pretty much stop selling trucks and for Volvo to register record sales in every month between now and then.
Volvo was ranked sixth in the overall standings selling 131 in total and the best of the rest in Heavy Duty, taking second to Kenworth with 129 units, less than half the sales its US rival registered.
Mercedes Benz had another strong performance as it continues its sales renaissance selling 101 heavy duty trucks in a total for the brand of 136 units, which includes seven medium duty sales and 28 Sprinter based light duty models.
Scania was probably the most affected by component shortages and only managed 74 sales after a few months in excess of 100 sales. We are told the Swedish brand will have plant shut downs scheduled in Europe this month to reduce the build up of partly finished trucks awaiting components. However T&B News understands there is some hope that December may see a huge delivery of Scania’s and other Euro brands as the supply issue is sorted.
Heavy Duty Sales August
| Manufacturer | TM | TM% | YTD | YTD% | |||
| KENWORTH | 289 | 26.4 | 1703 | 21.5 | |||
| VOLVO | 129 | 11.8 | 1009 | 12.8 | |||
| ISUZU | 113 | 10.3 | 840 | 10.6 | |||
| MERCEDES-BENZ | 101 | 9.2 | 793 | 10. | |||
| SCANIA | 74 | 6.8 | 752 | 9.5 | |||
| UD TRUCKS | 59 | 5.4 | 347 | 4.4 | |||
| DAF | 57 | 5.2 | 352 | 4.5 | |||
| FUSO | 48 | 4.4 | 367 | 4.6 | |||
| HINO | 45 | 4.1 | 393 | 5. | |||
| MACK | 43 | 3.9 | 378 | 4.8 | |||
| WESTERN STAR | 42 | 3.8 | 241 | 3. | |||
| FREIGHTLINER | 36 | 3.3 | 240 | 3. | |||
In medium duty Isuzu streaked ahead of Hino after several months of close contests between the Japanese rivals, Isuzu taking a massive 42.6 per cent of the medium market with 272 sales, 77 units ahead of Hino with 195 trucks and Fuso with 123 in third. UD was the only other brand to move out of single figures in the medium sector with 18 sales in August.
Medium Duty Sales August
| Manufacturer | TM | TM% | YTD | YTD% | |||
| ISUZU | 272 | 42.6 | 1818 | 38.6 | |||
| HINO | 195 | 30.5 | 1612 | 34.2 | |||
| FUSO | 123 | 19.2 | 923 | 19.6 | |||
| UD TRUCKS | 18 | 2.8 | 106 | 2.3 | |||
| MAN | 8 | 1.3 | 49 | 1. | |||
| IVECO | 7 | 1.1 | 70 | 1.5 | |||
| MERCEDES-BENZ | 7 | 1.1 | 48 | 1. | |||
It was a similar story in Light Duty with Isuzu capturing 41.3 per cent of the sector selling a massive 504 trucks, just under double Hino, which registered 281 trucks, while Fuso sold 239 and Iveco was fourth with 76 of its Daily truck chassis registered in August.
Light Duty Sales August
| Manufacturer | TM | TM% | YTD | YTD% | |||
| ISUZU | 504 | 41.3 | 3755 | 40.4 | |||
| HINO | 281 | 23. | 2183 | 23.5 | |||
| FUSO | 239 | 19.6 | 1697 | 18.3 | |||
| IVECO | 76 | 6.2 | 590 | 6.3 | |||
Mercedes had another bumper month with its Sprinter in the van sector with 344 sales for 60.7 per cent of the market, more than three times the tally of the next best in Renault with 103 vans for August, while VW was well back in third with 51 sales for the month.
Van Sales August
| Manufacturer | TM | TM% | YTD | YTD% | |||
| MERCEDES-BENZ | 344 | 60.7 | 1793 | 37.1 | |||
| RENAULT | 103 | 18.2 | 774 | 16. | |||
| VOLKSWAGEN | 51 | 9. | 800 | 16.6 | |||
So while order books are looking healthy, it seems it will come down to how many trucks can be landed and sold to customers before the end of the year, if we are to see a new record in 2021
