The heavy-duty sector continues to bolster overall truck sales with record-level delivery numbers around Australia in October.
In the latest figures released by the Trucking Industry Council, an impressive 1558 heavy-duty trucks were delivered last month, up 13 per cent, or 179 trucks, on the previous best tally for the month, set in October last year.
Year-to-date the result is even better with the segment tracking a healthy 18.8 per cent ahead of this time last year. In terms of actual truck numbers, the sales gap now sits at 2244 more heavy trucks sold year-to-date than to the end of October 2022.
It’s still a tight two-horse race at the top, although Kenworth now has a 58 truck buffer over arch rival Volvo with two months to go after recording 342 deliveries in October.
Volvo also was up on the previous month with 310 units and now sits on 2848 year-to-date.
The top two badges now account for 40.5 per cent of the entire heavy-duty market.
Isuzu also had a big month in the segment with 200 deliveries, not bad for a manufacturer without a prime mover to offer buyers.
“It was great to see strong heavy-duty truck sales in October, while the medium truck and light van sectors also continue to performed solidly,” said TIC CEO Tony McMullan.
“Light Truck sales were weak in October, however continue to perform slightly above 2022 sales on a year-to-date basis.
“It was also pleasing to see that the overall result for October 2023 was an all-time monthly record. With just two months remaining in the year, we are inching ever closer to a new all-time sales record for heavy vehicle sales in Australia. We may even crack the 45,000 new truck sales mark in a calendar year.”
In total 3970 new heavy vehicles were delivered in October, a new all-time record for the month, eclipsing the previous October record that was set in 2021, by 4.2 per cent, or 165 trucks.
All market segments, except light-duty truck, posted gains over the corresponding month last year.
Light-duty sales have been up and down all year, with October another ‘down’ month. In October only 1268 lights were delivered, down 12.3 per cent (-178 trucks) compared to the same month last year.
To the end of October, 13,685 small trucks have been sold year-to-date, that represents a small increase of 170 sales (1.3 per cent) for sales in 2023.
Volvo owns Mack so shouldn’t they be counted together? Which puts Volvo well in the lead.
Hi, if Kenworth Australia were to build another plant in Australia which would create a boost in jobs and productivity they would kill the market, we ordered a 509 and the wait time was quoted at 24 months, so can understand that other manufacturers are close behind in sales due to shorter availability times.