POSITIVE news that Australia’s recession had ended has added an extra dose of optimism in a year dampened by a pandemic and flagging vehicle sales, with more good news coming in the shape of November truck sales being the fourth-best on record despite headwinds.

The Truck Industry Council (TIC) CEO Tony McMullan said the Australian economy had reported a growth of 3.3 per cent in the third quarter, ending the “very tough year” for most Australians with a positive economic, health and social climate.

“The Truck Industry Council would like to acknowledge and thank the federal government for the economic stimulus that they have provided throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

“In particular, the original instant asset write-off and accelerated depreciation schemes, enacted in March 2020, greatly assisted the heavy-vehicle sector and no doubt many other industries.

“The announcement in October 2020 of an extension of the instant asset write-off scheme and the removal of the $150,000 cap will further stimulate our economy and no doubt heavy vehicle sales, throughout 2021 and well into 2022.”

Mr McMullan said new Australian heavy-vehicle sales, trucks and vans with a GVM above 3500kg remained resilient as 2020 ends.

The TIC reports that total heavy-vehicle sales for the month of November finished at 3174 new deliveries, up 3.0 per cent (or 94 vehicles) compared with November last year to become the fourth-best November sales on record after the boom years of 2007 and 2017 and the all-time record year of 2018.

“While 2020 is just two years on from that high, it seems like forever and a day has passed, almost entirely due to the global events that have unfolded this year,” Mr McMullan said.

“While the heavy-vehicle market is tracking more than 10 per cent down (-10.7 per cent) over last year and 18.8 per cent down on those record sales of 2018, 2020 truck sales have been better than anticipated given how COVID-19 lockdowns, border closures and the second wave impacts in Victoria have ravaged our Australian economy.

“In fact, the light-duty truck and van segments are tracking right on the five-year sales average.

“The medium-duty truck sector is down about 14 per cent on the five-year mean and heavy-truck sales are lagging the five-year average mark by 8.0 per cent, with sales in all segments no doubt buoyed by the federal government’s financial incentives.”

Despite the good news, the heavy-duty truck segment continues to experience the greatest year-on-year slowdown of all sectors.

It was hit the hardest by slowing sales in this year’s first and second quarters when the TIC said business confidence “fell off a cliff” due to COVID-19.

“However, the segment has clawed back some of those lost sales in the second half of 2020 and that continued, ever so slightly, in November,” it said.

“In November, 1032 trucks were delivered, up one (1) truck over the 1031 trucks sold in November 2019. Overall the segment trails last year’s results by 18.5 per cent. In vehicle numbers that is 2145 fewer HD trucks sold than this time in 2019.”

The TIC said that the medium-duty segment has been the second hardest hit sector in 2020 and this trend continued in November, albeit at a slowing pace.

In the month, 562 medium trucks were delivered, a decline of 3.8 per cent (representing 22 trucks) compared with the November 2019 sales.

Year-to-date medium-duty truck sales lag behind those of the same period last year by 13.4 per cent (or down 917 trucks) which, like the heavy-duty truck segment, is mainly attributed to poor first half-year sales.

The light-duty truck sales were again in positive territory in November when compared with November 2019 sales, with 1015 LD trucks sold, 69 more than for the same month last year. This represents a 7.3 per cent improvement over the 2019 November result.

Year-to-date the light truck segment is down 4.7 per cent at the end of November which, in sales numbers, is a decline of 494 trucks compared with the 10,443 LD truck sales in the equivalent period of 2019.

The light-duty van segment remains the least affected of all the heavy-vehicle segments in 2020, with solid van sales posted again in November, up 8.9 per cent for the month.

There were 565 vans sold in November 2020, an increase of 46 over the 519 sold in November 2019.

Year to date, the light-duty van segment trails 2019 sales by 158 units (or 2.7 per cent) with a total of 5643 vans delivered so far in 2020, compared with 5801 to the end of November 2019.

By Neil Dowling