Organisation note pleasing performance of light trucks and light vans
Light-duty trucks and light-duty vans made the running in July sales figures, the Truck Industry Council (TIC) highlights.
Light trucks continue to do most of the bull-work, “albeit at a more modest pace”, TIC says.
“The news for light van sales was also positive, a not so frequent occurrence this year.”
After a patch year so far, July was a positive for van sales in comparison to July 2015.
Light-duty vans posted a total of 426 sales, up 3.4 per cent, or 14 units, compared with July 2015.
Year-to-date the tally is still down over 2015 results but the gap is closing, 3,229 sales to the end of July 2016, now down just 1.2 per cent, or 40 units, compared with the same period in 2015.
The TIC continues to voice concern at the ageing heavy-duty fleet, sales to which continue to disappoint, with TIC president Phil Taylor saying the continued outcome “is not a desirable long term outcome for heavy vehicle road safety, the environment, or Australia’s road freight productivity”.
Beyond that, however, CEO Tony McMullan was generally happy with the July sales result.
“We have seen a very long federal election campaign that could have been quite destabilising for business confidence and hence capital investment expenditure, however truck sales have remained solid for most market segments and this is pleasing to see,” McMullan says.
“Medium- and light-duty truck sales are ahead of those posted over the same period last year and Light Duty Van sales have picked up in recent months, now trailing the year-to-date results seen in 2015 by a little over one per cent.
“However, the continuing poor sales of heavy trucks is disappointing and remains a concern for TIC and should be a concern for government as this part of Australia’s truck fleet continues to age.
“Hopefully we will see renewed business activity and increased investment in capital equipment now that the federal election has been decided and the nation’s future political direction set for the next three years.”