Light-duty segment continues to be in record-breaking territory
Commercial vehicle sales looked to be building again in August after easing off at the start of the financial year.
Having hit the year’s high-water mark in June of 4,741, then slipping as they traditionally do, to 3,296, figures pushed upwards to 3,520, Truck Industry Council (TIC) T-Mark figures showed.
The year to date was 26,736, monstering 2020’s Covid uncertainty-hit 21,955, up on still bullish 2019’s 25,380 but below 2018’s boom-time 27,159.
Market leader Isuzu did what market leaders should, heading the charge after hitting four figures in June with 1,085, rising to 889 from 756 in July.
Hino followed the trend, scoring 521 from 464 and 761 the month before that.
Fuso’s rebound was shallower, recording 410 on 398 and 568, counting back.
Heavy Duty
August’s heavy-duty figure of 1,092 was up marginally on July’s 1,021 but no match for June’s 1,374 – echoing the commercial vehicle market trend. This continues a run above the 1,000 mark since April. It was also the best August since 2018.
That said, the year-to-date (YTD) total of 4,710 is below last year’s 6,522, 2019’s 8,443 and 2018 9,165.
Kenworth followed trend (289, 211, 325) but Volvo bucked it (129, 162, 146), with the sort of subsidence last month that fellow Swede Scania felt (74, 102, 122).
Short-term supply-chain issues are said to be roiling the manufacturing of vehicles big and small and Scania, for one, expects to be back in three figures by September’s close, a spokesperson said.
Read how TIC viewed the global supply-chain disruption, here
Where the latter faltered, Isuzu (113, 97, 118) and Mercedes-Benz (101, 96, 139) stepped up.
Also bucking the trend in the wrong way was Iveco, which failed to rebound (25, 28, 43).
Medium Duty
The rebound was underway amongst mid-size trucks in this enigmatic segment, with totals of 639, 534 and 834 counting back the months.
This August is up from 2020’s 484 and just shy of 2019’s 644 but a fair way away from 2018’s bumper total of 721.
The YTD comparison puts this August’s 4,710 nicely above last year’s 4,319 and below the previous year’s 5,431
Segment leader Isuzu’s follows the monthly pattern perfectly with 272, 210 and 293.
Hino’s efforts (195, 168, 286) show how hard its sustain a top-spot challenge, while perennial bronze medallist Fuso (123, 107, 182) keeps itself in three figures and well ahead of a weak pack on this level.
Light Duty
Rinse and repeat in the small-truck segment, though the August rebound was tentative, only just up from July’s 1,202, while June came in at 1,620.
But the real achievement was in the record-breaking YTD, which was 9,293 compared with 2020’s 7,093 2019’s 7,581 and 2018’s 8,370.
Isuzu again followed trend with 504, 449 and 681, as did Hino with 281, 252 and 389, but Fuso recorded a slide with 239, 252 and 298.