Heavy truck sales slowly moving in the right direction

With the heavy-duty segment slowly picking up pace again in the month of August and medium-duty sales now in positive territory, at least some of the built-up tension in the Australian truck market could soon be easing off, according to the Truck Industry Council (TIC).

With a total of 844 trucks sold, the troubled heavy-duty segment gained 0.7 per cent last month, the Council reported, giving hope that a recovery may still be on the cards before the end of the year.

While the heavy-duty bracket continued its decline on a year-to-date basis and is now down 7.63 per cent on 2014, TIC CEO, Tony McMullan, said the tide may soon turn.

“I am … pleased to see that heavy truck sales were up, albeit only slightly, over the month of August 2014 and I hope that this is the start of a permanent turnaround in the sales trend in this segment.”

Medium-duty truck sales, meanwhile, surged to 9.3 per cent over the same month last year, with a total of 612 units for the month. The solid August result now has the segment 1.9 per cent up from a year-to-date perspective.

The strong year-to-date trend in light-duty truck sales also continued in August, but at a reduced pace, with sales growing by 4.6 per cent for the month, with a total sales tally of 804 trucks for August. Year-to-date light-duty sales are up by 10.3 per cent when compared to 2014.

In the van category, sales for the month were 469 units up – a healthy 21.8 per cent over August 2014 and 69 units better than the record setting pre-GFC result of 2008. Year-to-date, van sales are a solid 28.1 per cent over those of 2014.

“The August truck industry sales result reflects the broader economy where business confidence continues to be patchy,” said McMullan.

“While the overall numbers for the year are up on those for the same period in 2014, the growth has come at the light-duty end of the market, reflecting where companies are prepared to spend their capital investment funds.”

Overall, he called the month “fairly average”. The 2015 cumulative total to the end of August was 20,523 vehicles, up 4.9 per cent or 956 units on 2014, but 15.5 per cent lower compared to 2008.

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