Truck Industry Council bosses note return to previous form
With this year’s commercial vehicle sales figures only two months old, Truck Industry Council leaders are continuing to take a measured view.
While February’s total dipped sharply from last February’s, it was still more than 350 units up on January’s.
Still, it was the year-on-year monthly change that caught their eye, given January’s performance against the same month previously.
TIC CEO Tony McMullen feels vindicated on his cautious line this time last month.
“The first two months of 2017 have seen somewhat polar new truck and van sales. After January’s results were know, I cautioned about getting ahead of ourselves,” McMullen.
“The combination of January and February sales shows a normalisation of the market in 2017, which is now tracking slightly ahead of 2016.
“Due to the volatility seen in the first two months of this year, we will have to wait another month or two before we can truly gain a sense of where the Australian heavy commercial vehicle market may track in 2017.”
Normalisation was front of mind for TIC president Phil Taylor, too.
“Boom and bust would be a good way to describe the first two months of 2017 for new truck sales in Australia.
“After a great start to the year in January, sales certainly took a hit this month.
“Of course, fluctuating sales in the first couple of months of a new year are not unusual and we should see sales steady by the end of the first quarter.”