The Australian truck industry is showing signs of recovery, with sales during the first nine months of 2012 rising 8.4 per cent on the results from the corresponding period last year.
The industry has been decline since 2008, with the Global Financial Crisis causing most operators to limit new purchases and fleet renewals.
Most of the 22,212 trucks sold so far have been in the medium-duty and heavy-duty segments. Heavy-duty truck sales have been particularly strong, 23 per cent higher than the results from the first nine months of 2011. Similarly, medium-duty vehicles are 8.2 per cent higher so far this year.
However, the sales performance of the light-duty truck segment has been slow so far this year, with only 2231 trucks sold. This is 2.6 per cent lower than the 2663 trucks sold in the same period on 2011.
This is compounded by the results of past year. For instance, the full-year sales in 2011 were 15.7% less then the total sales in 2010.
However, there are signs of a recovery even in this segment, especially compared with the sales for September 2012 are 8.6 per cent higher than the total sold in September 2011.
The Truck Industry Council is forecasting a total of 29,950 sales for 2012, which is 7.5 per cent higher than 2011. However, this is still 21.5 per cent than the 38,131 sales recorded in 2007.
“The first nine months of Australian truck sales in 2012 results reflect a noticeable bias towards the heavy-duty segment, and also towards medium-duty trucks,” says Phil Taylor, President of the Truck Industry Council.
“Clearly, some fleets have begun to update their larger capital purchases after limiting their spending over the past few years.
“The domestic and international economies are still sending mostly negative messages, yet demand for larger trucks continues to grow. I anticipate a full year market that should approach 30,000 units, but most suppliers are wary of any growth trends continuing strongly into 2013.”