Last year’s record October has proven a hard act to follow this year in sales of new trucks and heavy vans.
According to Truck Industry Council (TIC), sales of vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) above 3,500kg fell 13.4 per cent compared to the same period last year.
However, in a welcome surprise, the Light Duty truck segment posted sales above those recorded for October last year with 1,353 units sold last month.
That betters the 1,313 trucks sold in October 2024 by 3.0 per cent.
The year-to-date news is not as positive, with Light Duty truck sales running at a deficit of 7.2 per cent, amounting to 874 less Light Duty truck sales thus far in 2025 compared to 2024.
According to TIC data, a total of 11,266 Light Duty trucks have been sold year-to-date October 2025.
Overall the heavy vehicle market losses in 2025 have stabilised, with the market down a fairly consistent 12 per cent month-to-month now, compared to last year’s record sales.
Given that 2025 follows four years of record, or near record, sales growth and noting historically heavy vehicle sales have been cyclical, market cooling is considered natural and aligns with other business sector declines witnessed currently across Australia.
Year-to-date heavy vehicle sales are tracking 12.0 per cent lower than last year. In terms of total vehicle sales, 37,648 trucks and vans have been delivered to the end of October 2025 which amounts to 5,131 less trucks and vans being sold to this point in 2024.
The Heavy Duty sector has been the hardest hit segment.
There were 1,226 Heavy Duty trucks delivered in October, down 19.7 per cent (-301 trucks) over October 2024.
The year-to-date trend is slightly better for the segment, with Heavy sales tracking 18.0 per cent lower than over the same period in 2024.
In unit numbers that is still a significant 2,595 less Heavies sold than for the same period to the end of October last year. Total sales thus far in 2025 for the Heavy Duty segment stand at 11,789 trucks.
The Medium Duty Truck segment performed quite well in 2024, however has struggled since the start of 2025 with the segment posting the second largest percentage loss year-to-date and largest segment fall in October.
Only 487 Medium Duty trucks were sold in the month of October 2025, that represents a significant 30.2 per cent (-211 units) drop in sales over October 2024.
The poor October result drags the year-to-date Medium truck segment sales lower, now tracking 14.3 per cent below the same period last year. This represents 960 fewer Medium trucks sold to the end of October. A total of 5,763 Medium Duty trucks have been sold year-to-date.
Van sales in October took a bit of a hit, well down for the month, when compared to the segment average in 2025.
The Light Duty van market was down 13.4 per cent for the month of October. That equates to 132 less Van sales in October 2025 compared to the same month in 2024.
A total of 855 Vans were sold for the month. The October Van sales result was almost twice as bad as the year-to-date percentage trend of -7.4 per cent.
Year-to-date 8,830 new Van sales have been recorded to the end of October, that is down 702 sales over the same period in 2024.
With the new truck market sluggish, Tony McMullan, CEO of Truck Industry Council, said the sales decline had stabilised.
“The October result continues the downward trend that we have witnessed for the majority of 2025, though the sales decline has stabilised over the past few months,” he said.
“We continued to witness solid sales in the Light Duty truck segment again in October and that was pleasing to see.
“Economic conditions across most business sectors in Australia remain weak and it appears this lack of business confidence is reflecting in new truck and van sales.
“However, the market remains on track for around 45,000 new truck and van sales in 2025 and that would be the third best ever sales result recorded for the heavy vehicle market in Australia.”
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