China’s medium-duty truck market continued to struggle in 2025. From March to June, sales fell for four straight months, with first-half sales down 15% year on year. The question for July was whether the market could bounce back or keep sliding.

According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), the overall truck market (including chassis and tractors) sold 264,400 units in July, down 16% from June but up 14% from a year earlier. Medium-duty trucks sold 8,642 units, down 14% from June and 19% year on year. This marked the fifth straight monthly decline, though the drop was smaller than June’s 30%.

Looking at the past five years, July sales for medium-duty trucks have shown a pattern of “down-down-up-up-down.” The highest was in July 2021 with 11,300 units. Sales plunged 41% in 2022, dropping below 10,000 units. Both 2023 and 2024 saw growth, with 2024 climbing back above 10,000. But in July 2025, sales again fell below that mark to only 8,600 units — the third-lowest in five years. For January to July, total sales reached 68,200 units, down 12,600 from the same period last year, ranking third among the past five years.

FAW TRUCKS Leads, Some Companies See Big Gains

Even though the overall market fell 19% in July, half of the top 10 truck makers managed to grow. Sinotruk, Dongfeng, BYD, Geely Farizon, and SHACMAN posted year-on-year gains of 81%, 13%, 92%, 24%, and 214%, respectively. At the same time, five other companies declined, with the steepest drop at 70%.

Together, the top 10 accounted for 98% of sales in July. FAW TRUCKS remained the market leader with 2,715 units and a 31.4% share. JAC, Sinotruk, and Dongfeng followed, each above 10% market share. BYD, Foton, and Qingling ranked fifth to seventh, each selling over 400 units. Farizon, SHACMAN, and Nanjun rounded out the top 10.

January–July: Market Down 16%, but Farizon and SHACMAN Triple Sales

From January to July, medium-duty truck sales totaled 68,200 units, down 16% year on year. Among the top 10, most brands achieved growth. SHACMAN and Farizon more than tripled their sales, up 304% and 314%. Sinotruk, Dongfeng, Qingling, and BYD also posted strong double-digit gains, while FAW TRUCKS, the leader, rose 3%. In contrast, companies that declined saw double-digit drops, with the steepest at 65%.

In terms of market share, FAW TRUCKS, JAC, Sinotruk, and Dongfeng each held more than 10%, with 30.7%, 15.3%, 12.4%, and 12.0%. Foton was close with 9.3%. The top five together controlled nearly 80% of the market. Qingling, BYD, SHACMAN, and Farizon followed, with both SHACMAN and Farizon more than doubling their shares.

Compared with a year ago, FAW TRUCKS, Sinotruk, Dongfeng, Qingling, BYD, SHACMAN, and Farizon all gained share. The biggest increases came from FAW TRUCKS (+5.6 points), Sinotruk (+5.3), and Dongfeng (+5.0).

So far in 2025, the medium-duty truck market has faced five straight months of decline, with sales down 19% in July and 16% for the first seven months, about 12,600 units fewer than last year. Whether the market can recover later this year remains uncertain.