– By Mark Hammond, Truck Industry Council –
October again saw solid new heavy vehicle sales in Australia and with just November and December to run, the truck 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.
In fact, 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.
Sales in quarter three were a 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 3,799, a very slight fall over the October 2021 result when 3,805 heavy vehicles were delivered. However, year-to-date heavy vehicle sales are tracking 5.8 percent 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, whilst Medium Trucks posted a slight loss and Light Duty Van again posted notable losses over the corresponding month last year.
Heavy Duty Truck sales were solid in October with the segment posting deliveries of 1,379 units, up 5.0 percent, 66 trucks, on October 2021. Year-to-date the result is much stronger with the segment tracking a very healthy 14.9 percent ahead of this time last year. In terms of actual truck numbers, the sales gap now sits at 1,549 more Heavy Trucks sold year-to-date 2022 than to the end of October 2021.
Medium Duty Truck sales in October were down over the same month in 2021. 570 Medium trucks were sold in October, 38 less than October 2021 (down 6.3 percent). However, over the ten months of 2022 thus far, the Medium truck segment is up a healthy 8.3 percent over last year. With 6,466 trucks delivered to the end of October 2022 compared to 5,968 Medium truck sales this time last year, up 498 units.
The Light Duty Truck segment remains the second strongest growth segment in 2022, after that of Heavy Trucks and was the best performing segment this October. 1,410 Light trucks were delivered for the month, up 8.2 percent (107 trucks) compared with October last year. To the end of October, 13,215 small trucks have been sold year-to-date, that represents an increase of 1,360 sales over the sales tally to the end of October 2021 (up 11.5 percent for the year).
Light Duty Van sales have been the weakest performing heavy vehicle segment in 2022 with year-to-date sales well down over 2021 results. October sales were again significantly down on those recorded for the same month in 2021, 24.3 percent down for the month. Total van sales for October were just 440 vehicles, that was 141 fewer vans sold compared with October 2021. Year-to-date the result is even worse, with sales down 26.7 percent compared to 2021. 4,387 Vans have been delivered this year, 1,599 less than to the end of October 2021.
Chief Executive Officer of TIC, the peak industry body for truck manufacturers and importers into Australia, Tony McMullan said “It was great to see strong Heavy and Light Duty Truck sales in October, whilst the Medium segment was just down on the sale mark set in October 2021. Unfortunately, Van sales remain weak in 2022 and October saw that trend continue. Although we witnessed a slowing of sales in two segments in October, the overall sales outlook was again positive in October and the overall results for 2022 remain strong. 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.”
