The Australian truck market has been knocked back, but not too much, by the 2020 effect. The latest truck sales figures show that, overall, the number of trucks sold on the Australian market will be lower than the last few years but better than 2016 levels.
The November results have been published by the Truck Industry Council and show the pandemic has hit economic activity, and therefore trucks sales, but not too much. Overall total sales were 30,998 by the end of November, meaning it can be expected to surpass the 2016 overall total truck sales for the year of 32,964, by the end of this month.
It’s back to business as usual in the heavy duty market this November, with Kenworth reaching a figure of 242 for the month, indicating that the lower numbers earlier in the year were the result of the hiatus in truck production to redesign the production line at Bayswater to meet social distancing guidelines.
Volvo’s creditable 147 truck sales sees them lose sight of eclipsing the Kenworth market dominance for another year. With Volvo sitting at 179 sales behind Kenworth at the end of November, the Paccar brand has just about sealed number one status yet again.
In the heavy duty market, two of the Daimler brands, Mercedes Benz and Fuso both had above average months in November. In 2020 overall, UD Trucks have done well despite the 2020 effect and shown the most significant improvement in market share, from 3.3 to 4.6 per cent of the heavy duty market.
In November Hino managed to pip Isuzu to the post for medium duty sales for the month, 213 to 202. However, Isuzu still hold a clear year in overall sales for the year, 407 truck sales ahead. Overall, it looks like overall medium duty sales will only be slightly down in 202 when compared with 2019.
2020 has been a relatively good year for light duty truck sales, with the final total looking almost certain to increase on that of last year. In terms of market share, Isuzu have increased from 37.1 to 39.9 per cent of the light duty sales, while Hino has retained its share at the expense of most of the brands below the two leaders.
