Latest figures show truck sales were sluggish but steady in August
By Gary Worrall | September 21, 2010
The slow recovery of the local economy from the after effects of the global financial crisis continued through August, with truck sales sluggish but steady.
Isuzu and Kenworth remain the two most popular brands, with Isuzu dominating in the small, medium and overall categories. Kenworth remains the top-seller in the heavy duty market.
Volvo is now a comfortable second in the heavy duty segment, delivering 86 units to Kenworth’s 109 during the month. With new models due in November it is possible Volvo was clearing the decks to ensure plenty of space in the dealerships.
Similarly Mack, with a model upgrade due in December, had a good month during August with 79 handovers making them third in class behind Kenworth and Volvo.
With no real pattern emerging in terms of deliveries, Isuzu was one of the most popular heavy trucks, delivering 65 units.
Western Star, third overall in the year-to-date rankings, only managed to send 45 trucks to customers around the nation.
In the medium duty market Isuzu was a clear leader over Hino, with 224 to 145 deliveries.
Fuso was third with 85 units for the month, ahead of UD, Mercedes-Benz and Iveco. DAF had no deliveries for the month
Isuzu (302 deliveries) comfortably saw off the arrival of Hyundai. Fuso retained second place with144 deliveries, ahead of a better performing Hino (149).
While Hyundai did not trouble the scorers in August, there is no doubt it will become a force in the months to come as stocks reach dealers and consumer confidence continues to increase.
As if to underscore the appearance of a topsy-turvy 31 days, UD handed over a total of 71 trucks in the month in the medium and heavy categories – well over their monthly averages for the year-to-date.
While the UD product remains a solid workhorse, it seems customers are beginning to warm to the thought of ownership and could yet push UD’s outright ranking even higher.
The van market was possibly the most stable of the commercial vehicle sector, with the deliveries almost line ball with the respective placings.
Mercedes-Benz finished on top 2ith 138 deliveries, no doubt helped by government contracts.
Ford was second with 88, followed by Volkswagen (61), FIAT (34) and Iveco (18). With the change over to ADR 80/03 just months away, the figures could yet be jumbled further as manufacturers possibly seek to offload existing product to allow for the arrival of new models.