Data courtesy of SMMT
2024 Truck Market Down – First Time in Three Years
Before we look at the best performing truck makers and their models, it is worth setting the scene of the 2024 market overall. After three years of continuous post-COVID19 market growth, the UK’s truck market took a turn for the worse falling from 46,227 in 2023 to 44,988 last year. With total registrations of trucks over 6 tonnes GVW down just -2.7% the year was no disaster – indeed, the fall was entirely due to the poor performance of tractor unit sales. In contrast, the rigid truck sector outperformed the market in 2023.
The slowdown in tractor unit registrations came as no surprise, as the writing was on the wall already at the end of Q4 2023. What has been impressive is the resilience of the rigid trucks sector, as this segment usually follows the tractor units up and down with a delay of six months or so. This is the nature of the complex build lead times for a rigid truck which means that they are slower to respond to economic changes compared to tractor units.
The slowdown in rigid truck registrations has begun to become apparent in the final quarter of 2024 with lighter rigids under 16 tonnes GVW falling back nearly 8% and only heavier rigids over 16 tonnes showing any growth compared to the previous year.
Tonnes of Electric Truck Registrations?
If the news coming out of the truck manufacturers’ press offices regarding the plethora of electric truck sales is to be taken at face value, then the sales of electric trucks should have gone through the roof. Sadly this has not been the case in 2024 with the numbers of electric trucks registered falling back -7.3%. Even more worrying is the looming 2035 deadline for the ban on the sale of non-zero emission trucks up to 26 tonnes GVW. That’s 75% of the truck market from the current 0.5% market share currently enjoyed by electric trucks. At least the government is offering generous incentives for operators to turn to electric trucks. At least that was the case – the Plug in truck grant is about to be shelved and replaced by a demonstrator programme for larger fleets.
The good news is that there are five times as many public HGV charging points in the UK than there was last year. The bad news is that there are still only five of them.
The Best Selling Trucks in 2024
Volvo Trucks and MAN Best Performers
It was Volvo Trucks’ turn to overhaul fellow Swedes, Scania in the race for second spot for UK new truck registrations in 2024. Scania simply could not repeat their excellent performance from last year that saw the company rocketing past Volvo with a 33% improvement on 2022. It therefore feels as though normal service has been resumed with Volvo taking the coveted second place behind runaway market leader, DAF Trucks.
Scania’s sister company, MAN are the only other manufacturer to have made improvements over their 2023 registrations – a feat made more impressive given the company’s 18% increase the previous year. Growth on top of growth is certainly a good thing. Looking at the table below, you can see that, in 2021, Mercedes were closer to competing with Volvo and Scania than they were to MAN. In 2024, Mercedes were over 2,000+ registrations away from Scania and Volvo with MAN within reach of the fourth spot just 135 registrations behind fellow German manufacturer, Mercedes.
Market Leader Slipping Back
In 2024, DAF Trucks remain the undisputed UK market leader with an impressive 28.4% market share. Impressively, the company has held this lofty position for the last thirty years. A wide product range, a strong dealer network, a solid value proposition and a UK assembly facility means that the company’s dominance will be a tough nut to crack in the near future. Will newcomers such as BYD and Yutong, who have made significant inroads into the UK’s bus market with their electric offerings, start to make inroads into DAF’s leadership when the UK’s truck market becomes ready for electric trucks?
| Position | Marque | 2024 | 2023 | % Change 24 vs 23 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DAF | 12780 | 13885 | -8% | 13068 | 11547 |
| 2 | VOLVO | 7012 | 6522 | 7.5% | 5906 | 5000 |
| 3 | SCANIA | 6764 | 7519 | -10% | 5655 | 5266 |
| 4 | MERCEDES | 4679 | 5248 | -10.8% | 4788 | 4237 |
| 5 | MAN | 4544 | 3919 | 15.9% | 3324 | 3480 |
| 6 | IVECO | 3941 | 3865 | 2% | 3387 | 3230 |
| 7 | RENAULT TRUCKS | 2906 | 2908 | -0.1% | 2598 | 2195 |
| 8 | ISUZU | 1162 | 1198 | -3% | 970 | 862 |
| 9 | DENNIS EAGLE | 956 | 878 | 8.9% | 815 | 949 |
| 10 | FUSO | 244 | 281 | -13.2% | 205 | 396 |
| 11 | VOLTA TRUCKS | 0 | 4 | -100% | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 44,988 | 46,227 | -2.7% | 40,716 | 37,162 |
The Best Selling Truck of 2024?
Unfortunately the level of data available in an industry that has had its fingers burnt by the competition authorities is relatively low. This means that we can only speculate about the best selling truck in the UK. Readers are unlikely to want to know the actual result which will probably be a not very interesting – Should we look at model ranges or types of trucks? For example, best selling tractor units or best selling 8 wheelers versus a DAF XF or Scania R Series.
One thing is for certain, the DAF range of trucks will probably top the rigid sectors, whilst the tractor units will be dominated by Volvo and Scania. We are always interested to hear your views on the subject.
The SMMT View
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive commented, “A slight decline in truck fleet renewal reflects a sector that is normalising after strong post-Covid growth. With most of the market nearly one full investment cycle away from the 2035 end of sale, however, urgent action is needed to address stagnant zero emission uptake. Manufacturers are delivering the products – now operators must be convinced to invest. Meaningful fiscal support and infrastructure rollout is essential, therefore, so that fleet transition is a compelling commercial proposition.”