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December Medium-Duty Truck Sales Cap Sluggish 2025
Sequential Gains Mask Ongoing Year-Over-Year Declines
Key Takeaways:
- U.S. Classes 4-7 retail truck sales fell 15.5% in December to 19,082 units from a year earlier, Omdia Automotive data show.
- Sales have trailed the prior year since January 2025, with declines across all classes led by Class 4 down 21.4% and Class 6 down 18.5%.
- Volume jumped 46.1% from weak November levels, but analysts said the rebound reflects a year-end pop and December was just above the 12-month average.
U.S. medium-duty truck sales in December capped almost a full year of results trailing 2024, according to data from Omdia Automotive.
Classes 4-7 retail truck sales for the month decreased 15.5% to 19,082 units from 22,586 a year earlier. Medium-duty sales haven’t trended ahead of the prior year since January 2025. The results, however, did jump 46.1% sequentially from 13,063 units reported in November.
“We were expecting retail sales in the Classes 5-7 space to be down about 10%,” ACT Research Vice President Steve Tam said. “I think they actually ended up being maybe a little bit more than that, 11% or 12%. So, certainly came as no surprise from a full-year perspective, and even, again, the longer-term comparisons, and you got that same year-end pop.”
Tam noted the results align with the message he has been communicating with clients lately. But he also suspects the sequential results look better in comparison with November’s weak performance.
“November was somewhat of an apparition,” Tam said. “It was pretty much one of the weakest months across the board. I’m looking at Classes 5-7, it was about 12,000 units. It was the worst month of the year. It makes the comp look probably better than it was. But at the same time, December wasn’t schlocky, it was above the 12-month moving average.”
Omdia data showed decreases in every medium-duty class. Class 7 truck sales decreased 8.8% to 4,876 units from 5,347. Class 6 fell 18.5% to 6,040 units from 7,414. Class 5 declined 15.7% to 6,588 from 7,818. Class 4 sales dropped 21.4% to 1,578 from 2,007.
Freightliner reported the most Class 7 sales at 2,401 units. Ford sold the most Class 6 trucks at 2,665 units and the most Class 5 vehicles at 3,408. Isuzu sold the most Class 4 units at 805.
