Truck sales boom of 2018 a fading memory

All truck segments fall below September 2017 levels

 

Truck sales in the latter half of 2019 continue to plateau, and even the ‘second-best’ mantle is slowly being whittled away, Truck Industry Council (TIC) figures reveal.

The month-on-month dip from 3,194 in August to 3,170 in September was compounded by each truck segment falling year-on-year in September, with the tally well below 3,506 in 2018 and 3,304 in 2017 (but still some distance from 2,863 in 2016).

While in no real danger of dropping below 2017 levels overall, most of the makers have felt the dip in volume year-to-date, with some winners – at least by market share – being Hino (14.3 per cent in 2019 compared to 13.5 and 13.1 per cent  in 2018 and 2017) and the Swedes: Volvo (5.9/5.3/4.9 per cent) and Scania (3/2.2/2.6 per cent).

HEAVY DUTY

The heavy-duty sector shows the greatest resilience as the only one to rise above last month, bouncing back to four figures (1,064) after August’s 986.

But when compared with 1,196 last September and 1,139 in 2017, the picture becomes clearer.

Still, YTD sales sit comfortably mid-way (9,507) between 10,361 in 2018 and 8,262 in 2017.

Individually, the biggest development is that Volvo claims heavy-duty leadership ahead of Kenworth in four of the past five months (198 to 177 in September).

This battle can be attributed to Kenworth’s drop more than Volvo’s rise, as September 2018 and 2017 numbers were 265 vs. 188, and 229 vs. 183 in the former’s favour.

At this rate, the YTD difference is 32 (1,688 to 1,656) and, should recent trends continue, Volvo could well overtake Kenworth by year’s end.


How Hyundai entered the heavy-duty fold last month


Elsewhere, Scania had its equal-best monthly tally for the year – 116, taking it to a 9 per cent market share for the year, ahead of previous years (6.4 and 8.3 per cent).

MEDIUM DUTY

A final medium-duty tally of 622 was marginally below 2018 (655) and 2017 (666) levels, but, unlike heavy-duty, that number was also less than August (644). (The numbers quirk ends there as July was one short of 633).

That makes it 5,673 for the year, compared to 6,086 in 2018 and 5,249 in 2017.

In a mixed bag, there were MOM dips for leaders Isuzu (246 to 238) and Hino (212 to 183), and slight gains for challengers Fuso (91 to 99) and MAN (52 to 69), closing the gap ever so slightly.

LIGHT DUTY

Light duty continues to take the biggest hit, back below four figures at 986, which bodes poorly against September 2018’s 1,184 and 2017’s 1,012.

This sector is in real danger of dropping of dropping below 2017 levels altogether, with a YTD figure of 8,567 now almost a thousand behind 2018 (9,554) and only about a hundred ahead of 2017 (8,453).

Of the top four, only Iveco had much to cheer about for the month, bouncing back into three figures (111 vs. 86).

 

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