Truck sales saw a major boost in June, in the last month of the financial year, according to the latest truck sales figures released by the Truck Industry Council. The increase was concentrated mainly at the more expensive heavy-duty end of the market and saw some record-breaking figures in that segment for the month. There was increased sales across the board in just about every segment as the transport industry decided to bite the bullet and use up some of their annual budget in the last month of the financial year.
The increased emphasis on the heavy-duty truck market saw Kenworth coming second in overall truck sales for June to, perennial market leader, Isuzu who is running at close to 25% of the overall truck market.
Kenworth managed to sell 456 trucks in June, close to 40% of all the trucks it has sold so far in 2010. All of the other competitors in the heavy-duty sector performed well with Volvo, Western Star, Iveco and Mack also selling well over 100 trucks each in June, well above normal monthly returns. These results can be seen as a bit of an aberration and sales levels can be expected to return to a much more conventional level in the coming months.
The medium duty sector saw a much more normal sales figures rise at the end of the tax year with the four main players, the Japanese manufacturers, all having better than average months, in terms of sales. If anything, Isuzu appears to be strengthening its dominance in this segment of the market, increasing market share yet again.
There were similar sales rises in the light duty segment of the market but the best results came from those smaller players in this light truck sales results. Ford and Mercedes-Benz both increased market share as the three Japanese manufacturers, Isuzu, Hino and Fuso (still with 80% of the market), all had better than average months but saw market share slipping slightly.
The good results for Ford in commercial vehicle sales continued in the heavy van market where they managed to pick up sales at the expense of just about every other competitor. Mercedes-Benz continued to dominate this segment and still maintains around 50% of total heavy guns sales so far in 2010.