After a relatively sluggish start to the sales year, Volvo has stormed back in October to finish tied on top for the month with Kenworth in the heavy-duty sector.
According to the latest figures just in from the Truck Industry Council (TIC), both Volvo and Kenworth recorded a healthy 282 units apiece in what is shaping to be a record year for overall truck sales in Australia.
With just two months remaining in 2022, TIC says the industry is well on the way to breaking the previous all-time sales record set in 2018, when 41,628 new trucks and heavy vans were sold.
With current sales holding strong due to full order books at most truck OEMs, the sales tally by year end 2022 should be around the 43,000 mark, predicts the TIC.
Sales in quarter three were again very strong with 11,348 deliveries, a new third quarter record and just shy of the quarter two result of 12,070 vehicles, which itself was a record second quarter result.
Total sales for October were 3799, a very slight fall over the October 2021 result when 3805 heavy vehicles were delivered.
However, year-to-date heavy vehicle sales are tracking 5.8 per cent higher than over the same time last year, highlighting that sales are on track for a record year.
The heavy and light truck market segments were up over October 2021 results, while medium trucks posted a slight loss and light duty van again posted notable losses over the corresponding month last year.
Heavy sales were solid in October with the segment posting deliveries of 1379 units, up 66 trucks (5 per cent), on October 2021’s numbers.
Aside from the heavy-duty frontrunners, DAF also enjoyed a notable October with 78 sales, the sixth-best result in the sector.
Year-to-date the result is much stronger with the segment tracking a very healthy 14.9 per cent ahead of this time last year. In terms of actual truck numbers, the sales gap now sits at 1549 more ‘heavies’ sold year-to-date 2022 than to the end of October 2021.
Medium-duty sales in October were down over the same month in 2021, with 570 trucks sold, 38 less than October 2021 (down 6.3 per cent).
However, so far in 2022 the segment is up a healthy 8.3 per cent up over last year, with 6466 trucks delivered to the end of October, compared to 5968 medium truck sales this time last year, up 498 units.
Overall, Isuzu Australia Limited (IAL) reveals it’s already surpassed its annual sales record, well before the year’s end.
The brand attained its all-time sales record in 2021, with 10,175 truck deliveries made by the end of December. Though there’s still two months left of the year, IAL said it had already hit that mark in mid-October.
