Truck deliveries track well amid record breaking August

New truck sales continue to track at levels above the all-time truck sales record year of 2018 according to the Truck Industry Council (TIC).

Despite the customary dip in July, sales have bounced back in August with record sales in both the Heavy and Light Truck segments, propelling overall sales for the month to a new high for August.

Historically sales in the month of June peak as both customers desire and dealers strive, to deliver trucks before the financial year closes.

“It was pleasing to see double digit sales growth continue in the Heavy and Light Duty truck segments, with Medium Duty sales up over this time last year,” said Tony McMullan, TIC Chief Executive Officer.

“While Van sales were down again in August, the result was much better than sales year-to-date, hopefully indicating that the supply chain issues that have hit this segment hard in 2022 are easing,” he continued.

Increasing inflation, according to McMullan, does not appear to be impacting new truck sales.

“While we hear that many body builders are running near, or at capacity and this may be slowing the final build of some trucks, deliveries remain at record levels,” he said in a statement.

Total heavy vehicle sales in August were 3,926, surpassing the previous high of 3,845 set in August 2018.

The record August result was a gain of 11.5 per cent over the same month in 2021, well up on the year-to-date growth rate of 5.9 per cent.

The Medium truck segment was also in positive territory, however Van sales were again down in August compared to last year, though not to the extent seen thus far in 2022.

Heavy Duty Truck segment sales were up again, setting a new record for August sales.

A total of 1,325 heavies were delivered, up a significant 21.2 per cent, or 232 trucks, on August 2021.

This percentage increase is up on the year-to-date sales result for the Heavy Duty segment which is tracking at 17.8 per cent when compared to this time last year.

The August result surpasses the previous best August result of 1,257 trucks set is 2018.

The healthy year-to-date trend, shows 2022 sales sitting well above those of 2021 by 1,404 Heavy trucks for the year to the end of August.

In view of the record sales year of 2018, the Heavy Duty segment is still tracking above that record, with 9,308 sales year-to-date 2022 compared to the same point in 2018 where the Heavy tally stood at 9,165 trucks.

That’s a lead of 143 Heavy sales (an increase of 1.5 per cent) over the period to the end of August 2018.

The TIC confirmed Medium Duty Truck sales continued to track in positive territory in August, though slowing a little compared with year-to-date sales for the segment.

A total of 669 new Medium Trucks were delivered, for a 4.7 per cent increase (30 units) over August 2021.

However, this is down on the year-to-date sales result for the Medium Duty segment which is tracking more than twice as high at 10.9 per cent for the year thus far.

That makes for a total of 513 Medium trucks ahead of the same time last year.

Light Duty Truck sales have been performing well all year and that trend held strong in August.

A total of 1,432 Light Duty trucks were delivered in August, up a healthy 17.3 per cent (211 trucks) over August 2021 and well ahead of the segments yearly average growth thus far of 11.1 per cent.

The August 2022 sales result was a new record for the month, surpassing the previous best mark of 1,154 set in August 2018 by 278 trucks. The year-to-date sales tally to the end of August 2022 stands at 10,326 vehicles, 1,033 more Light Duty trucks than to the end of August last year.

The Light Duty Van segment has been the under achieving story of 2022, mainly due to supply chain issues out of Europe.

August sales continued that trend, albeit with sales on the improve.

Total Van sales for August were exactly 500, just 67 fewer vans than for the same month in 2021.

That is a decrease of -11.8 per cent for the month, a significant improvement on the year-to-date Van trend that sees sales tracking a massive -28.6 per cent down on 2021 sales.

That amounts to -1,379 less vans sold thus far in 2022 compared to this time last year.

“All in all, I believe that the industry remains on track for a record sales year, potentially exceeding 14,000 trucks in the Heavy Duty segment and close to 42,000 vehicle sales for the total heavy vehicle truck and van industry.” said McMullan.