HOT on the heels of news the Australian economy grew only marginally in the last quarter, a scant 0.2% when seasonally adjusted, the Australian new truck market is showing signs of reducing.
While manufacturers are notoriously tight-lipped when it comes to discussing future orders, with economic growth slowing to a near standstill, the signs are pointing towards a general reduction in sales through the final months of 2024.
Despite this potentially gloomy future, the news was not all bad, with Kenworth recording year-on-year growth, outperforming its August 2023 result, with 327 trucks retailed in 2024 to 284 in the previous year.
Volvo, the former leader of the heavy truck segment, saw its year-on-year figures take a tumble, down to 197 units in 2024, compared to 308 trucks delivered in August 2023.
Even perennial market favourite Isuzu suffered a fall in trucks delivered, with the 2023 result of 1,183 units dropping to 1,070 trucks handed over this year.
Others to see sales fall included Hino, 433 in 2023 down to 408, Fuso (347 to 289) and Mack dropping from 92 to 61.
It was not all doom and gloom in August however, with Mercedes-Benz Trucks growing by more than 35% year on year, boosting sales from 132 to 182, Scania (116-126) and MAN (23-35) also enjoying sales growth.
Market segments also showed mixed results year-on-year, with the Heavy Duty market, for all trucks with a Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) of 16 tonnes and higher, often a strong indicator of the national freight task - itself closely tied to economic activity - reducing by 419 units from August 2023, down to 1,308 deliveries.
Further complicating the segment result, in addition to the changing fortunes of Kenworth and Volvo, Isuzu expanded their sales from 168 units to 184, while Hino grew by almost 50% over 2023, going from 49 units to 75, while Fuso also boosted their numbers 54 up to 63.
The Medium Duty segment recorded similar 'ups and downs', with a reduction in the overall market from 693 trucks to 657, reflected in the results for indivudal manufacturers.
Isuzu, despite maintaining its class lead, dropped from 368 to 318, while rival Hino grew from 187 to 202, although Fuso, part of the global Daimler Trucks portfolio, slipped from 95 to 83 year-on-year.
Hyundai increased from 6 trucks to 16 in the 12 month comparison, with Iveco also growing from 6 to 9 units, while these are small returns, they buck the trend of the overall decrease.
In the Light Duty segment, long the domain of the 'Big Three' Japanese brands, the market decline was just as marked, down from 1,272 to 1,190 in 2024.
Again, Isuzu retained its dominance as Australia's most popular truck brand, despite a decrease of 79 units, down from 647 to 568.
Tony McMullan, CEO of the Truck Industry Council (TIC), the representative body of the Australian new truck industry, said the overall market shows signs of slowing, although manufacturers remain confident of positive results through 2024.
"Looking at the numbers holistically, heavy vehicle sales this year are tracking comfortably above those of 2023," Mr McMullan said.
"However, in reality sales are only level pegging those of last year. Heavy and Medium truck sales remain solid, however Light Duty truck sales continue to slow noticeably over 2023 results.
“TIC will continue to closely monitor sales across all the heavy vehicle segments for the remainder of 2024 and keep industry and government updated on the results and trends that we witnessing.”
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