In another bumper month of truck sales for the industry, Volvo has edged clear of truckies’ long-standing heavy-duty favourite Kenworth in 2023.
Volvo’s 249 sales for April gives the Brisbane-based manufacturer a total of 994 for the year so far, 15 clear of Kenworth, which notched 231 sales for the month, according to the latest numbers just released by the Truck Industry Council (TIC).
It was the third-straight winning month for Volvo which now boasts 20.2 per cent of the heavy-duty market in Australia in 2023.
Isuzu solidified its third position in the segment with 192 sales – the same total as in March – and although losing ground again on the frontrunners is well clear of the chasers with a respectable 14.4 per cent market share.
They are headed by Scania, which recorded a commendable 96 sales in April, and UD Trucks on a year-to-date (YTD) total of 304 apiece.
Overall, there were 3613 sales of vehicles above 3500kg GVM for the month of April. This was down approximately 560 units on the previous month, however up 307 vehicles, 9.3 per cent, over April last year.
In fact, the result for April 2023 was an all-time April sales record, eclipsing the previous best April mark set in 2022.
Year-to-date sales are also well above all previous results, with 14,071 heavy vehicles deliveries to the end of April, that is 1948 vehicles more than were sold YTD April 2022 (up 16.1 per cent), the previous record year.
The April result was good the news across all segments, but in particular for the heavy and light truck sectors.
The heavies were up yet again in April with a total of 1295 units delivered, up 25 per cent, or 259 trucks, over the same period last year.
This was a new record for April heavy truck sales, eclipsing the previous high mark of 1156 sales set in 2018.
The trend is almost as strong YTD, with heavy sales tracking up 21.3 per cent over this time in 2022. In unit numbers that is 862 more heavies sold than this time last year. Total sales so far in 2023 are standing at 4910 units.
“It is encouraging to see another good result in April to follow the solid first quarter figures,” said TIC CEO Tony McMullan.
“It is particularly encouraging to see heavy and light-duty truck segment sales showing such continued strength. We are currently sitting on record sales growth and that is a strong position to be in as we head towards the end of the financial year.”
The medium-duty segment is tracking at about the same level as last year and April saw that trend continue with 609 sales.
That represents a 0.3 percent decrease (-2 units) over April 2022. The April result keeps the YTD 2023 medium segment sales at 2022 levels to the same point, end of April, down 1.3 per cent, or just 26 less medium truck sales thus far in 2023.
The other ‘high achiever’ in 2023, the lights, again posted record sales in April. Sales for the month totalled 1277 vehicles, a modest rise of 3.1 per cent over April 2022, but a new category sales record for April, surpassing the previous best April result set just last year.
In vehicle numbers the gain, April 2022 to 2023, was 38 trucks. Light-duty sales YTD are ahead of the same period in 2022 by 16 per cent, or 715 trucks, with 5199 littles delivered YTD 2023.