Total Australian new truck sales for January 2025 were a healthy 2786 units, just 133 shy of last year’s record opening month.
On its way to an inevitable 37th straight year as the dominant force amongst Australian manufacturers, Isuzu set the early pace with 765 deliveries, good enough for a 27.5 per cent overall market share.
Isuzu also starred in the heavies in the opening month, moving an impressive 147 units out the dealership gates, a total only topped by Kenworth with 216, which accounted for 24.1 per cent of the sector sales in January.
Volvo rounded out the top three on 128, followed by Scania and Mercedes-Benz level-pegging on 74, according to the latest numbers just released by the Truck Industry Council (TIC).
The overall total in the sector was 898, down just 49 trucks (5.2 per cent) on the same month last year, an all-time record for the heavies.
It was a solid start for the segment and a lot stronger than many in the industry were anticipating.
The star of the January show, however, was the medium-duty segment which was the only one to outperform January 2024 sales – up 7.5 per cent.
Isuzu again led the charge with 263 of the total 472 sector deliveries, or 55.7 per cent of the market.
There was daylight back to Hino in second with 125 units.
The overall tally in the mediums represented a six-year high, but was down 79 trucks, or 14 per cent, off the best ever January deliveries of 551 achieved in 2008.
However, as TIC has reported previously, the MD segment is a shrinking market, so it is unlikely that we will ever see new medium truck sales rewriting the record books.
Light-duty truck sales took the greatest hit in January, noticeably down and falling well short of January 2024 deliveries.
Sales in this segment in January 2023 set a new record, however with year-on-year falls in 2024 and again in 2025, the segment has started the year well down.
A total of 728 new ‘little trucks’ were sold in January 2025, down 12.8 per cent on January 2024 and significantly down (-29 per cent) over January 2023. That equates to 107 less light-duty truck sales compared to the same month last year and a fall of exactly 300 tucks when compared to January 2023 LD truck sales.
TIC CEO Tony McMullan, however, said it was pleasing to see such a strong overall start to the year for new heavy vehicle sales in Australia.
But he also warned that January and even February sales, are subject to fluctuations and some inconsistencies due to the transition of supplying trucks from one year to the next and the summer holiday period.
“The relatively poor showing in the light truck segment could well be due to these factors,” McMullan said.
“We will have a much better indication of how the market is tracking for the year at the end of the first quarter, once January, February and March numbers are in and the market has had a chance to normalise.”