INFLATION pressures have bitten into the Australian truck market with sales cooling compared with a year ago, according to data from the Truck Industry Council (TIC).

A year ago, truck sales hit a June sales record when 6054 new trucks and heavy vans were sold in Australia.

In June 2024, sales were clipped to 5160 new heavy vehicles, a 14.8 per cent decline over the same month in 2023. 

But, in spite of that setback in sales, the TIC said the June 2024 sales were the second best result on record. 

Be that as it may, all truck segments – Light, Medium and Heavy – were down over June last year. 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 fall of 1.3 per cent, the TIC said.

TIC CEO Tony McMullan said that at the halfway mark of 2024, overall heavy vehicle sales are slightly down on the record sales of last year.

“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,” he said.

“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 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.”

The Heavy Duty truck segment took something of a hit in June with only 1816 Heavy deliveries, down 20.8 per cent (or 478 trucks) over the same month in 2023. 

In perspective, it too was the second best Heavy Duty truck sales month on record, following the record 2023 June result. 

“Looking at quarter two 2024 in isolation, we see a solid performance from the Heavy truck sector with 4981 sales for April to June, down only slightly (136 fewer trucks) on the record second quarter 2023 result of 5117,” the TIC report said.

“Looking at the first half year result, Heavy Duty trucks sales remain slightly ahead of those in 2023 – 8769 sales versus 8732 sales to the end of June 2023 – which is a slight improvement of 0.4 per cent (37 additional Heavy truck registrations).” 

The Medium Duty segment has had solid sales in 2024 with 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. 

In July, 887 Medium trucks were delivered, down 17.6 per cent (190 fewer trucks) over June 2023. The overall April to June remains strong with 2296 Mediums delivered in the second quarter of 2024, compared with 2373 for the same period in 2023, a 3.2 per cent decrease over 2023 levels.

Tony McMullan

The TIC said year-to-date Medium Duty truck sales were performing better than 2023 with 4037 deliveries to the end of June 2024, up 1.7 per cent (66 trucks) on the 2023 half year result.

“We have witnessed the biggest market decline year-to-date in the Light Duty truck segment and that trend continued in June,” the TIC report said.

“A total of 1509 Light Duty truck sales (trucks with a GVM between 3500kg and 8000kg) were delivered for the month, down a significant 25.8 per cent (525 fewer vehicles) over June 2023, which has to be said was an all-time record sales month for the Light truck segment.

“The 2024 quarter two result was also weak for Light Duty trucks with 3964 trucks sold, down 892 units (or 18.4 per cent) over the second quarter 2023 result of 4856 deliveries.”

For the first half year 7093 Light Duty trucks were 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 (1685 fewer trucks).

Bucking the downward truck sales trend was again the Van segment that continues with strong sales in 2024. 

TIC said June Light Duty Van sales (vans with a GVM between 3500 kg and 8000kg) were well above those of last year. 

In June 2024, 948 Light Duty vans were delivered, up 46.1 per cent (299 vans) over June 2023.

Sales were 2490 units for the second quarter months of April to June, up 36.1 per cent (899 vans) over the same period last year. 

The TIC said this was a new all-time Q2 sales record for the segment in Australia. 

At the halfway point of the year, the total Van sales tally stands at 4176 units, up on 2023 by 43.3 per cent (1262 vans). 

“This result set a new first half of year sales record for Vans, bettering the previous best mark of 3723 van sales set in the first half of 2021,” TIC said.