Ongoing maintenance, fuel and repair costs (total cost of ownership) are the immediate factors in the truck procurement decision-making process, according to new research from Isuzu Australia.
The country’s number one truck brand recently released its ‘The Future of Trucking’ report, analysing the changing nature of Australian truck buyer behaviour and the forces that influence it.
More than 1,300 road transport survey respondents offered a unique insight into the state of the industry, as the road transport operating landscape continues to undergo significant changes in Australia and globally.
Key findings include:
- Decreased profit margins remain the top concern of businesses, while fleet respondents reported that increasing cost of fuel was among their highest concerns
- As businesses of all sizes shift towards a net zero goal, there’s a keen appetite for electric trucks among fleets and retail buyers alike, with 91 percent of respondents indicating that they’re considering a Zero Emissions Strategy
- The average age of a new truck replacement is 6.2 years. For larger fleets, the average figure was slightly higher at 7.2 years
- 71 percent of respondents indicated that purchasing a pre-built ready-to-work truck was the preference, which is an increase from 65 percent in 2020
- The top reason for vehicle replacement is sparked at the point when trucks become too expensive to maintain, with 38 percent citing this expense as the single biggest driver
- Total cost of ownership (TCO) has increased by seven percent to a total of 71 percent of fleets surveyed citing TCO as more important than the sticker price of a vehicle
“For the majority of fleets and indeed many smaller operators, the ongoing maintenance, fuel and repair costs (total cost of ownership) are huge factors in their procurement decision-making,” said Craig White, Head of Sales at Isuzu Australia.
“For some time now, we’ve seen the meteoric rise in the popularity of turnkey, pre-bodied, ready-to-work trucks as a legitimate solution for a growing number of operators in varied applications across our industries.
“Again, this is a trend we can see developing, with the curve continuing to track upwards.
“The single biggest driver of buyer behaviour in the Australian truck parc is maintenance cost. Whilst unsurprising in many respects, this result does nonetheless pose the subsequent question of exactly which direction buyer behaviour will take – especially as we move headlong into an era of new powertrain technology.”
