Examining truck sales statistics has the potential to ignite curiosity among prospective buyers and perhaps even elicit a mixture of admiration and bewilderment from manufacturers. Yet, beyond that, these statistics offer a valuable foundation for scrutinizing potential shifts within the market and identifying areas where operators could strategically expand or enhance their businesses. Moreover, they prompt pertinent inquiries in the minds of buyers, pondering whether all truck loans are uniform in nature. In this article, we delve into the statistics and delve into the intricacies of loans across various truck categories.
January 2021 Truck Sales Figures
At Jade Truck Loans, we enthusiastically track truck sales data, and we’ve recently examined the January 2021 statistics as published by TMARK. These figures reveal that certain trends from 2020 are persisting into the new year. On the whole, truck sales demonstrate resilience for the month, with a notable standout being the light-duty segment, which continues to dominate the charts, much like it did throughout the preceding year.
2020 was probably not the best year to compare anything with, due to impacts of coronavirus on many industries but January 2020 was pre-COVID and TMARK provide the stats of each month compared with the same period in the previous year. So the January 2021 figures are compared with those of January 2020. Overall sales are up 7.9% (2021 over 2020) but we see the light and medium leaders take the top 3 of the top 5 places. Isuzu sold the most vehicles in January 2021, followed by Hino and Fuso. The heavy duty leaders, Mercedes-Benz and Kenworth round out the top 5 overall.
While the light-duty category maintains its lead, Mercedes-Benz has achieved a substantial surge of 105.3% in sales compared to January 2020. It's important to note that this remarkable increase spans across all segments, not solely heavy duty. In the heavy-duty sector, Mercedes-Benz secured the fourth position with an 84% surge, while Kenworth clinched the lead in terms of the highest number of units sold. However, Kenworth's sales were lower than those of January 2020.
In both the medium and light-duty segments, Isuzu, Hino, and Fuso emerge as the top three contenders. Notably, it was within the light-duty segment where all three brands garnered exceptional results. Their sales growth compared to January 2020 figures is notably impressive.
Buying Indicators
Can these figures be interpreted as significant indicators, or are they a result of new model releases? We aren't equipped to provide an exhaustive analysis of the truck manufacturing industry. However, as a prominent lender in the truck sector, we can certainly offer our perspective and stimulate contemplation for those contemplating a new truck acquisition.
We present a series of questions: Is there a specific rationale behind operators favoring light-duty vehicles over mediums? Are there light-duty alternatives available at a lower price point that can effectively fulfill the required tasks? Could light-duty options offer cost or performance advantages over medium vehicles?
Could there potentially be more work opportunities for light-duty trucks compared to other segments? Addressing these thought-provoking questions is likely to lead to captivating discussions and insights.
But clearly the impacts and changes in the way people buy, especially in the consumer segment, and other changes in the economy due to coronavirus are playing out in the transport sector. At an individual manufacturer level, the release of the updated Hino 300 Series light duty truly sparked an accord with buyers at the time and its popularity may be continuing. But the 500 Series Medium Duty was also well-received by the market and both 300 and 500 offer Built to Go ranges so that negates those as possible reasons for sales spikes.
Whatever your analysis of the data, it is interesting for buyers to stay across what is selling and take a range of makes and models into consideration when making decisions about a new truck. To assist with the comparison process, we’ve provided our truck loan calculator to quickly generate estimates on loan repayments.
Loans for All Trucks
Are truck loans having any impact on the sales in the different segments? Are for instance loans better for light duty compared with for heavy duty purchasers? Well those questions we can definitely answer. Jade Truck Loans provides the same range of loan products for all types of trucks regardless of light, medium or heavy duty. But there are differences in the loan products themselves.
The loan products available for all trucks include:-
- Chattel Mortgage for truck & trailer finance
- Commercial Hire Purchase
- Truck lease financing
- Rent-to-Own
The differences in the loan products relate to:
- Suitability to either the cash or accruals methods of accounting
- The way a tax benefit is derived
- Treatment of GST
- Balance sheet entry
- Interest rate
The interest rate offered on these different types of loans does differ based on the structure and format of the loan product itself NOT on the basis of the type of truck. So if an operator is purchasing a light duty or a heavy duty truck using the same finance facility, the interest rate would be the same for both the light and heavy duty loan.
At Jade we focus on achieving the cheapest truck loans to support and assist our customers to keep their costs down and allow their business to surge.
To talk truck loans across any segment, speak with Jade Truck Loans about finance on 1300 000 003.
DISCLAIMER: THE INFORMATION PRESENTED IN THIS ARTICLE IS NOT INTENDED AS THE SOLE BASIS FOR INDIVIDUALS TO MAKE FINANCIAL DECISIONS. THOSE THAT REQUIRE ADVICE OR GUIDANCE IN REGARD TO THEIR FINANCIAL DECISIONS SHOULD CONSULT WITH AN ACCOUNTANT OR FINANCIAL ADVISOR. THE INFORMATION AS DETAILED IS BASED ON DATA, SPECS AND REFERENCES AS SOURCED FROM A RANGE OF SOURCES AND LIABILITY IS NOT ACCEPTED FOR MISINTERPRETATIONS, MISREPRESENTATIONS OR ANY ERRORS IN THE CONTENT. THIS ARTICLE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATIVE PURPOSES ONLY.
