It’s been a good year for heavy commercial truck sales, with two of New Zealand’s market leaders in the truck space telling DIESELtalk that they have enjoyed “a great year”.
Truck Investment Group’s (TIG) general manager, John Keenan, tells DIESELtalk that 2012 “has been an excellent year for both Truck Stops and the truck brands supported by the Truck Stops network”. Among the truck brands represented by the Truck Investments Group are Hino, Mack, Volvo, Renault Trucks and UD.
Keenan welcomes increases in sales volume across the Mack and Renault brands, in particular. “Strong sales increases over previous years for our volume brands are leading the key market segments.”
Enjoying the battle, Keenan continues: “Hino is locked in a battle with long-time market leader Isuzu for market leadership in the 9000kg plus segment, while Volvo dominates the 23,000kg heavy end of the market.”
While TIG’s strong performing truck brands are important to the retail businesses, equally important is Truck Stops, “Truck Stops is vital to our brands – having a strong national service network increases original buyer confidence and plays a role in maintaining the high resale values enjoyed by our brands.
“The latest dataset from NZTA shows that market share of the group’s new truck brands has risen from 21% of the total 9000Kg market in 2008 to 28.5% year-to-date October 2012. In tough times making the right truck and support network choice is even more important for operators’ long term success.”
Keenan expects “tough but improving market conditions over the next year.”
