TRUCK sales in November finished down almost 12 per cent on the previous November but the Truck Industry Council (TIC) said the market was still set for the third best year despite a weaker Australian economy in 2025.

The council said 2025 has been a slower year for new Australian heavy vehicle sales (trucks and vans with a GVM above 3500kg) with November finishing at 3810 new deliveries, down 512 vehicles or 11.9 per cent on November 2024.

TIC CEO Tony McMullan said that while new truck sales have not been as strong this year, compared to 2023 and 2024, sales have remained resilient throughout 2025.

“2025 has seen a reduction in new truck sales when compared to the two preceding, record breaking, years,” he said.

“There have been multiple factors that have worked against sales in 2025, the most influential is no doubt the general economic conditions across most business sectors in Australia, that have remained weak throughout the year. 

“Another contributing factor is the Australian Design Rule (ADR) change from ADR80/03 (Euro V) to ADR80/04 (Euro VI), which happened in the fourth quarter of this year.

“Some truck manufacturers have struggled with supply chain issues in recent months as a result of this ADR change. This has affected the supply of some truck models.

“However, despite these challenges, the market remains on track for around 45,000 new truck and van sales in 2025. 

“Sales over 44,379 would result in 2025 being the third best ever sales result recorded for the heavy vehicle market in Australia.”

The Heavy Duty truck segment continues to experience the greatest year-on-year slowdown of all of the four heavy vehicle sectors, having been hit the hardest by slowing sales all year long. 

November was a better month for the Heavy Duty segment with 1243 trucks delivered, down 144 trucks over the 1387 trucks sold in November 2024. That was a 10.4 reduction for the month. 

Overall the Heavy segment trails last year’s results by 18.4 per cent or 2739 less Heavies sold compared with November in 2024.  

TIC said that the Medium Duty truck segment has been the second-hardest hit sector in 2025 and this trend continued at pace in November.

Tony McMullan

Only 464 Medium trucks were delivered for the month, a significant decline of 34.0 per cent (or 239 trucks) over November 2024 sales. 

“Year-to-date the Medium Duty truck sector is performing better, with sales lagging behind those of the same period last year by 16.2 per cent (or 1199 trucks),” TIC said.

“This is primarily due to poor sales in quarters three and four this year.”

The Light Duty truck segment was the only sector in positive territory in November, with sales up slightly when compared with November 2024 and remains the least affected by the sales downturn of all the heavy vehicle segments in 2025. 

There were 1263 Light Duty trucks sold for the month, eight more little trucks than for the same month last year. That was a 0.6 per cent improvement over the 2024 November result.

TIC said that year-to-date the Light truck segment is down 6.5 per cent at the end of November. 

“In terms of sales numbers, that was 13,395 LD truck sales in 2024 to the end of November, compared with 12,529 Light Duty Truck sales thus far in 2025, a deficit of 866 trucks,” it said.

Sales in the Light Duty van segment continued to struggle in 2025 and the month of November saw another poor result compared to sales in November 2024. 

There were 840 vans sold in November 2025 which was a significant decrease of 137 vans (or 14.0 per cent) over the 977 sold in November 2024. 

TIC said that year-to-date the Light Duty van segment is fairing a little better, trailing 2024 sales by 8.0 per cent or 839 less vans. 

A total of 9670 vans have been delivered in 2025, compared with 10,509 van sales to the end of November 2024.