The Australian truck market is tracking towards an annual record sales total of 40,000 vehicles after finishing the first six months of 2018 with sales of just under 20,000.
There were 19,970 trucks and vans sold in Australia to the end of June in what has been an exceptional start for the industry, which has not seen sales like this since before the GFC almost a decade ago.
The month of June saw more than 4000 trucks sold, 4231 to be precise with all of the usual suspects doing well including market leader Isuzu which captured 25 per cent of the overall market for the month with 1059 trucks registered while Japanese rival Hino also had a stellar month with 569 trucks and 13.4 per cent of the market. It was the first time truck sales have ever exceeded 4000 in a single month.
In similar record breaking milestones the industry celebrated record high monthly heavy and light duty truck sales as well.
Isuzu could possibly break the 10,000-truck barrier this year if sales increases keep tracking up as they have since the start of the year. All makers with a few exceptions are holding very string order banks and only a lack of stock will stand in the way of Isuzu possibly achieving 10,000 sales this year.
Isuzu sold 154 trucks more than it did in May, while Hino was up 77 units on the previous month while third place Fuso was up marginally on May with 414 sales for June five more than the May tally.
It was another strong showing in heavy duty with 1433 trucks sold in the sector, more than 100 ahead of the May, with Kenworth again reigning supreme. The heavy sector reported some impressive numbers across most brands, with the exception being International.
Kenworth, which was also fourth in the overall market, moved 271 trucks in June to bring its YTD tally to 1333. Swedish rival Volvo also had a great month registering 241 heavies and four medium duty trucks. Isuzu moved 159 heavy duties to be third in that sector.
Mercedes Benz had another great month as its Actros range continues to win hearts. The tri star sold 121 heavy-duty trucks while moving 212 trucks across all sectors to be sixth in the overall market.
Naturally Isuzu held sway in medium duty with 43.7 per cent of the market and 391 sales for June, 68 units up on its May result. Again Hino also had a good month but not as good as its rival Japanese rival. Hino moved 232 units up 25 on May while Fuso sold 127 and UD 59 trucks.
Isuzu blitzed it in Light Duty as well holding 39.7 per cent of the market with 509 light duty units for the month up 63 units on May while Hino was the next best with an equally impressive result selling 271 trucks up from a disappointing May when it moved 241 trucks and was toppled for second by Fuso. Fuso sold 226 trucks in June after selling 269 units the previous month.
Amongst all the good news there was a little dampener with June Light Duty Van sales down over 2017 June results. There were 599 LD Vans delivered for the month, down 8.3 per cent or 54 vans on June 2017. At the half way point of the year, the Van tally stands in positive territory at 3,045 units, up on 2017 sales by 5.4 per cent or 157 vans.
President of Truck Industry Council, Phil Taylor, said that cracking the 4,000 mark for sales in a single month was a fantastic result for the industry.
“This capped off a great second quarter result and combined with solid first quarter sales sees the market at record levels at the half way point of the year. I have said before that it has been a long road to recovery and I hope that market strength we see currently continues for the remainder of the year and that 2018 will continue to re-write the history books.” Mr Taylor concluded.
All eyes will be on Isuzu to see if it can break the 10,000 for the year barrier which should be achievable given it will need to sell an average of 880 trucks per month between now and the end of the year. Similarly for the industry to top the 40,000 truck barrier it will need to move around 3388 trucks per month between now and 31 December.
