CUSTOMERS put the brakes on the strengthening truck sales in 2023 with April sales slipping off the trend line, down on the March figure but up on the April sales of 2022.

In fact, despite losing numbers from March, the April result was still a record April.

The Truck Industry Council (TIC) reported that 3613 trucks and vans above 3500kg GVM were sold in April, down about 560 units on the previous month but up 307 units on April 2022.

TIC CEO Tony McMullan said despite the slide, April was still another encouraging sales result.

“It is particularly encouraging to see Heavy and Light Duty Truck segment sales showing such continued strength,” he said.

“We are currently sitting on record sales growth and that is a strong position to be in as we head towards the end of the financial year.”

The TIC said the result for April 2023 was an all-time sales record for the month, eclipsing the previous best April mark set in 2022.

“Year-to-date sales are also well above all previous results, with 14,071 heavy vehicles deliveries to the end of April,” it said.

“This is 1948 vehicles more than were sold year-to-date April 2022 (up 16.1 per cent), the previous record year.”

The April result was good news across all segments, but in particular for the Heavy and Light Truck sectors.

The Heavy Duty Truck segment was up yet again in April with a total of 1295 units delivered, up 25.0 per cent, or 259 trucks, over April 2022.

“This was a new record for April Heavy truck sales, eclipsing the previous high mark of 1156 sales set in 2018,” the council said.

“The trend is almost as strong year-to-date, with Heavy sales tracking up 21.3 per cent over this time in 2022. In unit numbers that is 862 more Heavies sold than this time last year.

“Total sales thus far in 2023 for the Heavy Duty segment are standing at 4910 units.”

It said that the Medium Duty Truck segment was tracking at about the same level as last year and April saw that trend continue.

In April, 609 Medium truck sales were recorded which represents a 0.3 per cent decrease (down only two units) over April 2022.

The April result keeps the year-to-date 2023 Medium segment sales at 2022 levels. It was down only 1.3 per cent, or just 26 less Medium truck sales thus far in 2023.

“The other ‘high achiever’ in 2023, the Light Duty Truck segment, again posted record sales in April,” TIC said.

“Light truck sales for the month totalled 1277 vehicles, a modest rise of 3.1 per cent over April 2022, but a new Light Duty Truck sales record for April, surpassing the previous best April result set just last year.

“In vehicle numbers the gain, April 2022 to 2023, was 38 trucks. Light Duty sales year-to-date are ahead of the same period in 2022 by 16.0 per cent, or 715 trucks, with 5199 ‘little’ trucks delivered year-to-date 2023.”

Van sales have rebounded in 2023 compared with the soft sales environment last year that was attributed to ongoing supply chain issues.

“Light Duty Vans, those vans with a GVM over 3500kg, recorded 432 sales for the month of April, up just 2.9 per cent – or 12 vans – over April 2022,” TIC said.

“Year-to-date the story is much better for the van segment with the tally standing at 1755 units, this is up 29.5 per cent (400 vans) compared with the same period in 2022.”

By Neil Dowling