Returning buyers and incremental market growth saw August heavy truck market grow by more than 25 percent over 2011
By Gary Worrall | September 6, 2012
A combination of returning buyers and incremental market growth saw the August heavy truck market grow by more than 25 percent over 2011, industry insiders say.
While the overall market, including heavy duty vans, grew by over 7 percent, the heavy duty segment proved to be the star performer, led by Kenworth with 233 trucks delivered in the month.
The top three places in the segment were held by brands manufacturing in Australia, with Volvo completing 134 deliveries while brand-mate Mack handed over 90 models.
Western Star finished the month as leading importer, just three units adrift of Mack with 87 deliveries. However, the positions are comfortably reversed on the year-to-date deliveries chart, with 636 imported trucks versus 594 Australian built Mack models.
Although stablemates in their home markets in the United States as part of the Daimler Trucks North America empire, Western Star competes here with fifth-placed Freightliner, which achieved a year-to-date high of 85 trucks.
Underlining the returning strength of the market, Isuzu was just one truck adrift in sixth with 84 deliveries, although the drop to Iveco was marked, with 67 units, followed by Cat (48 trucks) and then European manufacturers Scania and Mercedes-Benz, each with 42 deliveries.
Sources from a number of manufacturers all believe the growth is a combination of easing monetary conditions, allowing operators to replace ageing vehicles, as well as the incremental growth of the market and increasing freight demand.
With truck sales virtually dormant in 2008 and 2009, with difficulty in sourcing finance a key part of the issue, many fleets extended the operating life of existing equipment.
But as maintenance costs begin to escalate, new trucks are deemed to be more economically viable.
A side-effect of the growth in new truck sales is a corresponding boost to used truck sales, with more trade-ins available than in previous years, leading to better trading conditions and greater confidence in this sector.
Despite the strength of the heavy segment, the overall market remains volatile, with the light duty segment actually smaller than August 2011 – 758 units in 2012 against 807 units in 2011.
Japanese manufacturer Hino did enjoy a leap in sales, earning a 21.5 percent share August 2012 versus 14.9 percent August 2011.
Meanwhile, Isuzu slipped from 43 percent to 36 percent in the corresponding period.
Hyundai and Toyota continue to battle for supremacy in the light van market, while Toyota claimed bragging honours for top monthly sales of 559 units to 526 Hyundai iload models.
But the Korean manufacturer remains well ahead in the year-to-date stakes, with 4,474 units to 4,276 Toyotas.
