Mounting pressure caused by inflation have eroded truck sales after a reasonably strong quarter.
A total of 5,160 new heavy vehicles were sold in June, marking a 14.8 per cent decline over the same month in 2023.
That said, June 2024 sales were the second best result on record.
All truck segments, Light, Medium and Heavy were down over June last year, though van sales were up for the month.
Year-to-date sales are tracking just slightly below those for the first six months of 2023, with 24,075 truck and van sales this year, compared with 24,395 to the same point last year — a retraction of 1.3 per cent.
Taking a look at each of the four segments individually, the Heavy Duty truck segment took something of a hit in June with only 1,816 Heavy deliveries, down 20.8 per cent (-478 trucks) over the same month in 2023.
Viewing the quarter two 2024 in isolation, there was a solid performance from the Heavy truck sector, 4,981 sales for April to June, down only slightly (-136 trucks) on the record second quarter 2023 result of 5,117.
Looking at the first half year result, Heavy Duty trucks sales remain slightly ahead of those in 2023, 8,769 sales verses 8,732 sales to the end of June 2023, a slight improvement of 0.4 per cent (37 additional Heavy truck registrations).
The Medium Duty segment has enjoyed solid sales so far in 2024, with clear sales growth over 2023, however as with the other truck segments June sales were down on those seen year-to-date and for the same month last year.
Officially, 887 Medium trucks were delivered last month, down 17.6 per cent (-190 trucks) over June 2023.
The overall April to June remains strong with 2,296 Mediums delivered in Q2 2024, compared to 2,373 for the same period in 2023, a 3.2 per cent decrease over 2023 levels. Year-to-date Medium Duty truck sales are performing better than 2023 with 4,037 deliveries to the end of June 2024, up 1.7 per cent (66 trucks) on the 2023 half year result.
However, the largest market decline year-to-date in the Light Duty truck segment was experienced and that trend continued in June. A total of 1,509 Light Duty truck sales (trucks with a GVM between 3,500 kg and 8,000 kg) were delivered for the month, down a significant 25.8 per cent (-525 vehicles) over June 2023, in light of an all-time record sales month for the Light truck segment.
The 2024 quarter two result was also weak for Light Duty trucks with 3,964 trucks sold, down 892 units (-18.4 per cent) over the second quarter 2023 result of 4,856 deliveries.
For the first half year, 7,093 Light Duty trucks have been delivered, well down on the same period in 2023 when 8778 Light Duty trucks were delivered. That is a 19.2 per cent year-on-year reduction (-1,685 trucks).
Bucking the downward truck sales trend was again the Van segment that continues with strong sales in 2024.
In fact, June Light Duty Van sales (vans with a GVM between 3,500 kg and 8,000 kg) were well above those of last year. The Truck Industry Council confirmed 948 Light Duty vans were delivered for the month of June 2024, up a very significant 46.1 per cent (299 vans) over June 2023.
LD Vans posted a total of 2,490 sales for the second quarter months of April to June, up 36.1 per cent (899 vans) over the same period last year. That result being a new all-time Q2 sales record for the segment in Australia.
At the half way point of the year, the total Van sales tally stands at 4,176 units, up on 2023 by 43.3 per cent (1,262 vans). This result setting a new first half of year sales record for Vans, bettering the previous best mark of 3,723 van sales set in the first half of 2021.
“At the halfway mark of 2024 overall heavy vehicle sales are slightly down on the record sales of last year,” said Tony McMullan, TIC Chief Executive Officer.
“Whilst June 2024 sales were down, it must be remembered that they were the second best result ever recorded for the month of June in Australia. We have seen our economy cooling for many months now and this slower June result may be as a result of the general economic slowdown that we are witnessing across the Australian economy.
“However, it may be simply have been a slower month due to other externalities and does not signal an overall trend. The coming months will confirm if heavy vehicle sales have reached a peak for the time being and the market continues to cool, or if June was simply an isolated slower month.”
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