The new truck market continued to be in record-breaking form in October.

The month itself produced the best October performance ever in terms of registrations in the overall (4.5 tonnes-plus GVM) market – the 480 sales a 9% improvement on previous best, from 2018.

The trailer market was 29 units behind 2014’s alltime best October and also trailed the same month in 2018 by eight units – thus also dropping the year-to-date tally further behind the same point 12 months earlier.

October’s 138 trailer registrations carried the 2019 YTD total to 1302 – 10.7% behind 2018’s record-breaking market.

In October’s 4.5t-maximum GVM truck market, things remained much the same, with Isuzu notching-up its sixth 100-plus month for the year, with 120 registrations, official NZ Transport Agency data shows.

That saw its 2019 monthly average sitting at 104 – up from 2018’s 96 average. 

It was well ahead of FUSO’s 70.6 monthly average so far in 2019 – and Hino’s 60.2 per month average. Between these three and UD, Japanese trucks accounted for 59% of the market YTD.

At the end of October, Isuzu’s registrations totalled 1040 YTD, with FUSO (706/60) next YTD – some way behind. Then came Hino (602/57), Mercedes-Benz (341/36), Volvo (277/37) and Iveco (244/34), which moved ahead of Kenworth (240/18). DAF (216/15) and UD (216/22) were tied in ninth, ahead of Scania (196/29).

In the crossover 3.5-4.5t GVM segment, Fiat (208/25) blitzed the field, followed by Mercedes-Benz (66/8), with Chevrolet (27/3) third….followed by Ford and Peugeot, fourth-equal on 24 YTD.

In the 4.5-7.5t segment, FUSO (310/25) retained the lead from a closing Isuzu (280/33), followed by Mercedes-Benz (183/24), Iveco (136/20) and Hino (102/6). Foton (54/7) sat in sixth position, while Hyundai (29/5) moved into seventh-equal with Volkswagen (29/1). 

In the 7.5-15t division, Isuzu (438/53) extended its lead over Hino (205/24), with FUSO (180/12), UD (38/0), Iveco (36/6), Foton (20/6), Mercedes-Benz (13/0), Hyundai (8/0), DAF (7/1) and Volvo (1/0) in order behind. MAN and Sinotruk were newcomers to this class in October, with one registration apiece. 

Hino (75/7) increased its lead in the 15-20.5t segment, followed by UD (48/6), FUSO (44/6), Isuzu (26/3) and Scania (18/2). Mercedes-Benz (14/2) moved ahead of Iveco (12/1) into sixth. MAN (6/1) registered one truck to equal DAF (6/0) in ninth position. 

In the 20.5-23t segment, Hino (27/0) continued to dominate, ahead of UD (15/4) and FUSO (14/2). 

In the premium 23t-max GVM division, Isuzu (292/31) held the lead, although Volvo (273/36) edged closer. Kenworth (240/18) was third, ahead of DAF (202/14), Hino (193/20), Scania (175/27) and FUSO (158/15). Mercedes-Benz (131/10), UD (115/12) and MAN (88/9) rounded out the top 10 – the order remaining the same from September. 

Trailer market leader Patchell (160/17) remained well in command, ahead of MTE (111/13) and Fruehauf (104/15). 

Roadmaster (98/10) was fourth, ahead of Transport Trailers (89/10), which eased ahead of Domett (86/7) to take fifth position. TMC (84/6), Transfleet (51/5), TES (49/6) and Jackson (34/2) rounded out the top 10.