THE Reserve Bank's decision to hold interest rates at the current level is not expected to impact sales of new trucks in Australia, says Tony Mc Mullan, CEO of the Truck Industry Council.
Speaking exclusivly to Let's Drive It, Mr McMullan said the Australian market is strong, and this is borne out by new truck sales during the first four months of 2024.
"The Australian market is strong and remains so for the first four months of 2024 due in part to pent up demand," Mr McMullan said.
While manufacturers are confident of strong sales throughout 2024, Mr McMullan said there has been some softening of demand for the freight task, which could have a longer term impact.
"The market is not expected to contract necessarily due to the cost of money but there is some early evidence of demand softening with customers taking longer to consider their purchase decision," Mr McMullan said.
"There remains still a significant freight task however the reading of some lead indicators suggest that less freight is being moved."
With many trucks requiring 'third party' items, including bodies, refrigeration units, bullbars and other equipment prior to hand over to operators, Mr McMullan said delays in supply were being managed by manufacturers to reduce waiting lists, although he acknowledged this has impacted sales figures.
"Supply chain impact has been happening for some years and industry has adjusted, the pipeline of new truck sales has been capped by these delays with OEMs clearing the backlog yet to be delivered.
"It is not expected that there will be a contraction but this limit on delivery capacity has prevented even stronger growth in sales," Mr McMullan said.
While the strong new truck sales results have seen more than 4,000 new trucks on Australian roads in the first four months of the year, Mr McMullan said this has not seen many older trucks retired from service.
With new models offering not just improved fuel efficiency and environmental performance thanks to complying to strict international standards, Mr McMullan said the latest generation trucks also include the latest in safety technology, comparable to current passenger vehicles, including ABS braking systems, lane keep assist and also vehicle stability systems.
"We have seen less trucks being retired due to an increase in home deliveries during the COVID period.
"This trend doesn’t seem to have changed substantially and thus the average age of the fleet has not significantly decreased despite record truck sales."
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