The Truck Industry Council reports 3,656 new trucks were sold during November, 94 more than during November 2022 (+2.6 per cent).
This is the strongest November result on record and moves the year-to-date accrual to 38,076 units, 2,778 more than for the same eleven months last year (+7.9 per cent) and gives every indication that 2023 will, indeed, surpass 2022’s record for the full year.
The Heavy Duty truck segment was up again in November, continuing its year-long trend, with a total of 1,607 units delivered during the month, up 5.8 per cent, (88 trucks) on November 2022.
The year-to-date result is even stronger, with Heavy sales tracking up 17.3 per cent over those of the same period last year, with total Heavy truck sales to the end of November reaching 15,817 units, some 2,332 more Heavy trucks than sold year-to-date in 2022.
Medium Duty truck sales have been solid throughout 2023 and that trend continued in November with sales well up on the November 2022 result.
This year, 755 Medium trucks were sold in November, up 15.1 per cent (99 trucks) over the same month last year. Year-to-date sales in this segment shows 7,280 Medium trucks have been delivered to the end of November this year, 458 ahead of the year to date result in 2022 (+ 6.7 per cent).
During November, 1,294 Light Duty trucks were delivered, down 12.3 per cent (-182 trucks) over the corresponding month last year. The year-to-date sales tally in 2023 moved to 14,979 for the Light Duty truck segment, just 0.1 per cent, or only 12 trucks, behind the same period last year.
In 2023 the Light Duty Van segment has been making up lost ground over the poor sales results of 2022, which were principally due to the segment being the hardest hit by supply chain issues last year.
Despite recovering sales during this year, the November van sales of 568 units is down slightly at -2.4 per cent (-14 vans), compared with the November 2022 result. Year-to-date the results appear much better with a total of 5,570 vans delivered to the end of November 2023, up 12.1 per cent (601 vans) compared with the same period in 2022.
“We need record, or near record, sales to continue for years to come in order to reverse the fleet ageing trend that has been apparent in our market for over a decade now,” said Tony McMullan, TIC Chief Executive Officer.
“Reducing the national truck fleet age will bring benefits for all road users.”
