New and used commercial vehicle registrations saw a sharp decline in December with both down nearly 20% year-on-year.
Total registrations of new trucks and buses over 3500kg GVM sits at 384 units for the month.
This is down 19% compared to the 473 units in the same period the previous year.
A total of 6686 new trucks and buses hit the road in 2018 compared with 6268 in 2017.
Isuzu is market leader for the month of December with 95 units registered and a 25% market share.
However, the brand was down 28% year-on-year with 132 registered in the same period in 2017.
Fiat is in second place for the month, up 84% with 46 registered and a 21% market share.
Hino comes in third, down 30% with 37 registered and a 10% market share.
Mercedes-Benz follows, up 26% with 34 units registered, Fuso down 67% (32), Iveco down 24% (22), UD Trucks up 11% (20) and DAF up 67% (10).
Meanwhile, total used imported truck and bus registrations were down 17% year-on-year with 161 units registered in December.
This compared to 194 in the same period in 2017.
Isuzu lead the used commercial import market for the month with 36 units registered and a 22% market share.
This was down 10% compared to 40 in the same period the previous year.
Hino comes in second, up 32% with 33 registered and a 20.
5% market share.
Mitsubishi third, unchanged with 24 registered and a 15% market share.
Toyota follows, down 40% (21 units), Nissan up 73% (19), Fiat down 87.
5% (3), Ford unchanged (3), Kenworth up 50% (3), and Iveco down 50% (2).
Isuzu NZ general manager Colin Muir says December results were a “great end to the year” for the brand and registrations “just a few shy of what we’d have hoped for”.
“Irrespective, we have averaged over 100 units registered per month in 2018 which we’re really pleased with.
“When you have such an engaged dealer network doing everything they can to support their customers it is important that they are all doing well and maximising their investment,” Muir says.
The new heavy vehicle segment over 23,000kg GVM was down 11.
5% year-on-year for December with a total of 116 units registered.
This compares to 131 in the same period the previous year.
A total 2533 units hit the road in this segment in 2018 compared to 2268 in 2017.
Isuzu leads this segment, up 8% with 27 units registered and a 23% market share.
Fuso comes in second, up 8% with 14 registered and a 12% market share.
Mercedes-Benz follows, up 180% also with 14.
It was followed by UD Trucks, up 175% with 11 units, DAF up 100% (10), Hino down 23% (10), Kenworth unchanged (8), Freightliner down 61.
5% (5), Volvo down 17% (5) and Iveco down 73% (3).
Daimler Truck and Bus NZ senior manager Pieter Theron says the brand experienced a “really strong quarter” with both the new Arocs and Actros Distribution range gaining solid traction in the market.
“The performance of our new trucks in terms of fuel consumption and AdBlue consumption is exceeding expectations and making our job a lot easier by having such a great product, it’s helping us grow the business.
“In terms of vehicles invoiced to dealers, we performed 75% better than the previous year.
That says a lot about the product and what’s to come,” Theron says.
The new medium truck segment between 9000kg to 23,000kg GVM is down 21% year-on-year with a total of 70 units registered for December compared to 89 in the same period the previous year.
Isuzu takes the top spot, down 13% with 27 registered and a 39% market share.
Hino comes in second, down 20% with 12 registered and a 17% market share.
Fuso is third, down 42% with 11.
UD Truck follows, down 43% (8) and Iveco up 67% (5).
The new light commercial segment between 3500kg to 9000kg GVM featuring trucks, vans, and buses was down 27% year-on-year with a total of 164 units registered compared to 226 in the same time the previous year.
Fiat leads the segment, up 84% with 46 registered and a 28% market share.
Isuzu comes in second, down 49% with 38 and a 23% market share.
Mercedes-Benz is third, down 6% with 16 and a 10% market share.
Hino follows, down 40% with 15 units, Iveco up 8% (13) and Fuso down 87% (7).
The new light commercial segment was up 1.
5% year-on-year with 3470 units registered in December compared to 3420 in the same period the previous year.
A total of 53,555 units hit the road in this segment in 2018 compared with 51507 in 2017.
Toyota took top position for the month, up 22% with 725 units registered and a 21% market share.
Ford comes second, down 1.
5% with 647 and a 19% market share.
Mitsubishi was third, up 42% with 405 units and a 12% market share.
Holden follows, down 49% (240), Nissan up 26% (240), Isuzu down 30% (199), Mercedes-Benz up 176.
5% (188), Volkswagen up 70% (138), Mazda down 20% (116) and LDV down 10% (106).
The Ford Ranger remained both the top new commercial vehicle model and the top model overall for the fourth consecutive year.
The model saw a total of 9904 registrations in 2018, up 484 units compared to 2017.
The Toyota Hilux came in second with 8086 registrations, also up on 2017 volumes by 980 units.
Overall, there were 161,519 new vehicles registered during 2018 – a record setting effort, with the market 1% up on the previous year.
The latest Motor Industry Association (MIA) figures show that’s 1648 registrations above 2017’s overall result and the fifth year in a row of increases.
However, December 2018 was down 3.
6% or 420 units on December 2017.
“Given current global economic factors, distributor expectations for 2019 indicate a softening of the market.
Further steady growth in the new vehicle sector above 2018 outturn is not expected,” MIA chief executive David Crawford says.
In the used heavy truck segment over 23,000kg GVM there were 10 registrations overall.
Kenworth lead with three units, followed with DAF and Hino both registering one.
The used medium heavy vehicle segment between 9000kg and 23,000kg GVM was down 21% year-on-year with 70 units registered for December.
Isuzu lead, down 13% with 27 units registered; Hino down 20% (12), Fuso down 42% (11), UD Trucks down 43% (8) and Iveco down 67% (5).
The new tractor segment is up 13% year-on-year with 164 units registered in December compared to 145 in the same period the previous year.
John Deere leads, up 8.
5% with 51 units and a 31% market share.
Massey Ferguson follows, up 23.
5% (21 units), New Holland up 27% (19), Case IH up 13% (17), Deutz-Fahr up 36% (15), Kubota unchanged (13), Claas up 33% (8), Tractor down 25% (6) and Case up 400% (5).
Meanwhile, the Australian truck and heavy van sales for the 2018 calendar year totalled 41,628 units, as detailed in the Truck Industry Council T-Mark report.
This was up 4803 units (13%) compare to the 2017 period.
This was a new record for heavy vehicle sales in Australia, eclipsing the pre-Global Financial Crisis (GFC) market peak of 38,131 new truck sales, set in 2007, by 3497, or around 8.
4%.
Despite the slowing of Australian sales in the fourth quarter, all segments with the exception of vans posted double digit percentage growth over 2017 sales.
The van segment was up just 1% at year-end 2018 over the previous year’s result.
