Kenworth has opened up an impressive lead on all its heavy-duty rivals after another mammoth month of sales in August.
In the latest Truck Industry Council numbers, the Bayswater-based badge sold 289 units, up a staggering 130 on the same month in 2020, and 78 up on 2021 July sales.
That leaves Kenworth now 604 units clear on the year-to-date (YTD) heavy-duty table with 1703 sales. At the same time last year, Kenworth was on 1121.
Nearest chaser Volvo moved 129 trucks in August to now sit on 1009 YTD, a noticeable dip from the 1173 it recorded by the same time in 2020.
Isuzu came in third in August with 113 sales, followed by Mercedes-Benz with 101 and Scania in fifth with 74 after a recent triple-digit run.
Short-term supply-chain issues are said to be roiling the manufacturing of vehicles big and small and Scania, for one, expects to be back in three figures by September’s close, a spokesperson said.
As a measure of the market rebound in the new financial year, however, a total of 1093 heavy-duty prime movers were sold in August, up from the 821 recorded for the same month in 2020.
The heavy-duty YTD tally is now 7904, a healthy 1382 ahead of the 2020 total at the end of August.
Meanwhile, in the keenly-contested medium-duty segment, Isuzu broke clear of nearest rival Hino with 272 sales vs. 195.
That leaves Isuzu on 1818 YTD, but with just a 206 buffer over Hino.
Fuso rounds out a dominant segment top-three with 123 sales for August.
Overall, the YTD sales at the end of August sits on 26,736, crushing 2020’s Covid-hit tally of 21,955.