Varying analysis techniques allow several commercial vehicle brands to celebrate New Zealand sales success with the new truck market achieving record volumes in 2023.

Notably Isuzu Trucks New Zealand has returned to the top spot on the sales charts (new trucks with a GVM above 3500kg), with year-end data confirming it outsold all competitors to regain the Number One position for 2023.

Isuzu enjoyed a run of 21 years of truck market leadership in New Zealand before Fuso claimed top spot in 2021 and 2022.

“It’s been a challenging few years, especially with COVID disruptions and significant pressure on the supply chain, but 2023 has proven to be a turning point as we have been able to focus on delivering the best possible transport solutions to our customers,” says Dave Ballantyne, General Manager of Isuzu Trucks New Zealand.

“As a brand, we would like to thank the customers who have supported Isuzu Trucks and

dealers through this time, the dealers for their hard work and also the strong support we get from Isuzu Japan.”

In a truck market that showed a 3.27% increase over the previous record year in 2022, Isuzu Trucks New Zealand performed ahead of market trends with 8.7% growth year-on-year.

“Isuzu is renowned for offering a wide portfolio of fit-for-purpose trucks that are used in many applications ranging from supermarket home delivery vehicles, construction and rural use through to freight haulage,” says Mr Ballantyne.

“The 2023 result is credit to the quality of our product and the outstanding efforts of our dealer partners.”

Among the contributors to Isuzu’s market success was the launch of a new ‘Ready to Work’ range of N Series Trucks.

Scania New Zealand meanwhile is celebrating a fourth consecutive year as number one in market the heavy truck category. Scania’s definition for a heavy truck is above 16 tonnes GVM, a categorisation that incorporates all Scania models sold in New Zealand.

Scania reports 653 registrations in 2023, up 21.8% on its 2022 results. It accounts for a market share of 20% in the 16t-plus category.

Deon Stephens, Scania New Zealand Director of Sales says achieving this result in just the companies fifth anniversary of operation in New Zealand is extremely satisfying.

“We want to thank and acknowledge all our Scania customers who made 2023 such a successful year for us. Capping off the year first in market share once again in this premiere and very competitive segment is a fantastic result,” says Stephens.

“We are incredibly grateful for every customer that chooses Scania, as well as for the consistently hard work our team constantly puts in from Scania New Zealand.”

Even though Scania only sells and supplies trucks over 16,000kg, the company also still ranked among the top 5 brands in New Zealand for volume of all new trucks and buses sold over 3500kg last year. 

The full New Zealand Truck & Driver analysis of the 2023 truck market – based on the categories used by the magazine for 24 years – appears on page 90 of this month’s issue.