In a year again ravaged by Covid and with major supply issues, the Australian truck market pulled off an amazing result in 2021, falling just 225 units short of the all-time record year of 2021, with sales of 41404 for the year and record annual sales for several brands.
If not for several brands that suffered from supply constraints through the year the market could have easily exceeded the previous record, with the Japanese brands producing the best performances. Isuzu’s record result of 10175 trucks was ahead of its 2018 record by 148 units, Hino was up by 605 trucks and Fuso was 468 units ahead of its 2018 tally. More significantly it was a yearly record for the Daimler brand, easily topping its best year of 2007, when it sold 4476 units.
However it was in the heavies where the battle for the record was arguably lost, if ever so slightly. Kenworth was down 108 trucks on its 2018 tally, Volvo, probably the brand most affected by supply, was down 448 trucks, Iveco down a whopping 589 units, while Mack dropped 568 on its 2018 result. MAN saw the biggest drop on its 2018 result, down suffering a 831 unit fall, while UD was down 238 sales.
It wasn’t all losses amongst the heavy duty brands however, with Scania up 235 on its 2018 totals, DAF up 193 units, while the other Daimler brand, Freightliner, which appears to be getting some traction and supply of its much vaunted Cascadia, was up 26 units. Mercedes-Benz across its Heavy and Medium offering in fact set a new record for its truck sales in Australia notching up 1290 sales for the year, up from its previous best of 1189 set in 2018. This didn’t count the 489 Mercedes’ Sprinter cab-chassis light duty sales, as these are from a seperate entity within the Daimler realm.
All in all the result should be viewed in the prism of the conditions the industry had to deal with and with order books full well out into 2022, and into 2023 for some the industry should be pretty pleased.
Isuzu weathered a major attack from both Hino and Fuso particularly in light and medium duty sectors to record its best ever annual result, with both Hino and Fuso suffering a little from mid-year stock shortages . The market leader finished the year with 24.6 per cent of the total market with Hino’s tally of 6251 units giving it a strong 15.1 percent share while Fuso’s 4770 gave it 11.5 per cent share. Between them the three Japanese brands had a total market share of a massive 51.2 per cent.
Kenworth’s 2838 sales for the year secured its crown of number one in the sector for another year continuing to fight off its Euro rival Volvo which sold 1683 heavies across the year, while Isuzu was number three in the Heavy market with 1515. Mercedes was next best with its previously mentioned total of 1218 heavies, while Scania nearly scored a new annual record to take fifth in the sector with 1129 units.The Swedish manufacturer’s fell just 20 units short of its best yearly result in Australia, which was in 2019, when it sold 1149 units.
Isuzu secured its grip on medium duty with 3067 medium duty sales and 41.5 per cent share of the sector, holding Hino’s various incursions at bay. Hino says supply held it back but it still recorded 2322 sales for the year and 31.4 per cent share. Fuso was naturally third in Medium with 1451 sales and a 19.6 per cent share of the sector. The scraps in medium duty were fought over by UD in fourth with 166 units for the year, Iveco with 97, MAN with 78 and Mercedes with 72. Hyundai had its best ever result with 52 of its new Pavisse mediums for the year.
Light duty saw Hino have a big month with 333, a strong result for the number two, just 29 units behind sector leader Isuzu with 362, while Fuso moved 252 light duty in December. For the year however Isuzu finished well ahead at the top of the sector registering 5593 light duty trucks in 2021 and a 39 per cent share. Hino’s annual tally of 3346 and 23.3 per cent share placed it second while Fuso made big inroads over the 12 months and finished with 2744 and 19.1 per cent of the light market. Iveco was the next best with 923 of its Daily based medium duty trucks and a 6.4 per cent share. The three Japanese brands between them held 87.4 share of the light duty market or around 9 out of every 10 light duty sold in Australia last year.
Mercedes dominated the van market in 2021 taking 2554 sales of its Sprinter for 38.4 per cent share with Ford next best for the year with 1086 and 16.3 per cent share. Renault was third with 1040 sales of its Master and 15.6 per cent share while VW was fourth with 994 Crafters and 14.9 per cent share.
As mentioned, the industry reports strong order banks ahead into 2022 and there is strong optimism that if supply can be secured 2022 may be the year that the 2018 record is broken.
