Kenworth comfortably held its perch at the top of the heavy-duty sales table with another solid month in November.
In the latest new truck sales figures by the Truck Industry Council (TIC), Kenworth handed over 338 sets of keys, good enough for a 24.4 per cent market share so far in 2024.
The Bayswater badge is now 512 clear of nearest rival Volvo in the year-to-date totals (YTD) – 3416 against 2904.
Volvo lost ground after a relatively modest 215 sales in November, a total that was beaten by Isuzu for the first time this year.
Isuzu notched 225 for November and now sits on 2261 YTD in a sector in which it doesn’t yet have a prime mover.
Overall, the heavy-duty segment continued to slow after a whirlwind start to the year.
The 1387 heavies delivered in November was down 13.7 per cent, or 220 trucks, on the same month last year.
But the YTD numbers are only down 0.3 per cent, or 46 less trucks.
Overall, a total of 4322 trucks and vans above 3.5 tonne GVM were sold last month, up 2.3 per cent over 2023 sales.
However, those numbers are slightly skewed this year because for the first time the TIC data is capturing two new van brands, the LDV Deliver 9 and Peugeot Boxer.
Exclude those and the month is down 3.1 per cent.
The new numbers are also distorting YTD comparisons overall.
Year-to-date sales are 47,101 and that represents a 7.9 per cent increase compared to the end of November 2023.
However, 6.4 per cent of that market growth has come from the inclusion of LDV and Peugeot sales in 2024.
Comparing the total market without LDV and Peugeot sales the numbers are, 44,287 heavy vehicles in 2024, verses 43,646 this time in 2023. A 1.5 per cent increase over 2023 sales.
Hence the market is actually only tracking just above 2023 levels.
TIC CEO Tony McMullan said light duty sales continue to slow noticeably over 2023 results, but heavy and medium truck sales remain solid.
“With just December sales remaining, we are looking at potentially breaking the 50,000 mark for new heavy vehicle sales in Australia for the first time ever,” McMullan said.
“Of course, this will include the sales for LDV and Peugeot brands that TIC has not had access to in previous years. However, even if these brands are excluded from the 2024 sales tally, the market is tracking 1.5 percent above 2023 results at the end of November.
“There is the real possibility that the all-time sales record set in 2023 will be broken this year, irrespective of the inclusion of these two brands.”