The brakes have been applied to New Zealand’s new truck and trailer sales.

The general economic slowdown is reflected by lower September new truck registration figures, according to NZ Transport Agency data.

There were 425 registrations of new trucks with a GVM above 4.5 tonnes and the year-to-date (YTD) total has reached 4194 units in the first nine months of 2024.

The September total is well down from last year’s 587 registrations, and the YTD total represents a 9.8% decrease on the same period last year (4648 registrations).

For context, the total new vehicle market (passenger, light commercial and heavy commercial) is running 16.1% (18,057 units) behind 2023 levels through the first nine months of the year.

The trailer market is also slowing, with 83 registrations in September and 1123 YTD. This makes it 52 registrations behind the same time last year and falls well short of 2018’s record of 1312.

In the overall heavy truck market (above 4.5t GVM), Isuzu was the September market leader with 64 new registrations to increase its YTD total to 820 units and slightly increase its lead over Fuso (711/58).

Scania (494/53) retains third place, comfortably ahead of Hino (438/50) and Volvo (314/43) to complete the top five rankings. Mercedes-Benz (220/35) moves ahead of sister brands DAF (218/20) and Kenworth (217/23) into sixth position.

Iveco (187/24), UD (161/18) and Foton (114/13) hold their positions month-on-month to round out the top-10 in the 4.5t to max category.

In the 3.5-4.5t GVM crossover segment, Fiat (239/26) extended its lead over LDV (186/25), Ford (134/11) and Mercedes-Benz (100/9). The top 4 brands account for an 81.0% share of this market segment. 

In the 4.5-7.5t GVM division, the top four held their places, with Isuzu (280/18) leading Fuso (245/6), Mercedes-Benz (128/31) and Hino (101/14) 

In the 7.5-15t GVM segment, Isuzu (335/25) holds a dominant lead over Fuso (243/24) while Hino (129/18) remains in third.

Hino (67/5) continues to lead in the 15-20.5t GVM division with Isuzu (51/3) and Fuso (51/4) now tied in second ahead of UD (28/2), Iveco (13/2) and Scania (10/1) to complete the top six.

The tiny 20.5-23t segment produced four registrations during September. Scania (9/1) continues to hold the top spot ahead of Fuso (5/1) in second followed by Isuzu (3/1), Sinotruk (2/0), Iveco (1/0), Hino (1/0) and Mercedes-Benz (1/1). 

The premium 23t to maximum GVM division sees Scania (475/51) continuing to achieve strong sales. Scania’s 51 registrations ranks it number one for September and lifts its YTD total to 475 units, representing a 23.0% share of the market.

Volvo (312/43) retains second while Kenworth (217/23) edges ahead of DAF (216/20) into fourth. Fuso (167/20), Isuzu (151/17), UD (127/16), Mercedes-Benz (78/3) and Iveco (46/5) all retain their positions – rounding out the top 10 brands.

Trailer market leader Fruehauf (160/13) remains in the top spot YTD ahead of Domett (110/4) and Roadmaster (93/3). Transport Trailers (75/9) and TMC (72/8) both managed to sneak ahead of Patchell (70/3). MTE (53/3), Fairfax (38/3) Transfleet (37/2), and CWS (31/2) retain their positions to complete the top 10.