Year-to-date sales are also above all previous results with 12,123 deliveries for April, a huge 297 units better than the previous record of April 2018.
The only damper was that while truck sales were strong, van sales were weak and that impacted on sales for April being down on March by 491 units.
The Truck Industry Council (TIC) said the April result was good news for all players in all truck segments.
TIC CEO Tony McMullan said it was encouraging to see the solid April figures.
“It is particularly encouraging to see truck sales showing such continued strength, however van sales are down significantly year to date and are showing no immediate signs of improving,” he said.
“Whilst we are currently sitting on record sales growth in the truck segments and I hope that continues throughout 2022, I am mindful of the government’s need to temper inflation.
“The recent interest rate rise by the Reserve Bank is a reminder that ongoing fiscal policy decisions may have some effect on new vehicle sales moving forward.”
The TIC reported that Heavy Duty Truck segment was up yet again in April with a total of 1036 units delivered, up 11.5 per cent, or a 107 truck increase on April 2021.
“Though this was not an all-time April record, that remains at 1156 Heavy vehicles sold in April 2018,” the TIC said.
“The trend is even strong year-to-date, with Heavy sales tracking up 20.3 per cent over this time in 2021. In unit numbers that is 682 more Heavies sold than this time last year.
“Total sales thus far in 2022 for the Heavy Duty segment are standing at 4048 units, that is just 11 Heavy trucks fewer than the tally to the end of April in 2018 – the all-time record.”
The Medium Duty Truck segment also posted solid sales in 2022 and April continued the trend with 632 sales, a 12.1 per cent (68 units) gain over April 2021.
The April result keeps the year-to-date Medium segment sales comfortably ahead of the same period last year, up by 12.7 per cent, or 257 trucks. Year-to-date, 2283 Medium trucks have been sold.
Light Duty truck sales continued to witness modest growth in 2022. April sales totaled 1218 vehicles, a rise of 9.4 per cent over April 2021, in vehicle numbers that was a gain of 105 trucks.
In April 2022, Light truck sales was an all-time April sales record, surpassing the previous best of 1113 “little trucks” set in April last year. Light Duty sales year-to-date are ahead of the same period in 2021 by 8.6 per cent, or 353 trucks, to make a total of 4437 Light Duty trucks sold to the end of April 2022.
The TIC said that by comparison to the truck segments, van sales in 2022 have been down considerably over recent year performances.
That trend continued in April. Light Duty Vans (a GVM over 3500kg) recorded just 420 sales for the month of April, down a significant 31.0 per cent, or 189 vans, over April 2021.
“Year-to-date the story is even worse for the Van segment with the tally standing at only 1355 units, down a substantial 34.4 per cent, that is 709 fewer van sales, compared with the same period in 2021,” the TIC said.
TIC members represent 17 truck brands currently on sale in Australia, plus four truck engine and major component brands.
By Neil Dowling
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