The downturn in the Italian industrial vehicle market was confirmed once again in May 2025, a month that saw a clear contraction in registrations compared to the same period the previous year. According to data released by Unrae, new registrations for vehicles over 3.5 tonnes totalled 2,496 units, down from 3,069 in May 2024, marking a decrease of 18.7 percent. This drop affected all segments, albeit to varying degrees.
Light vehicles in the 3.51 to 6-tonne range fell by 21.6 percent, dropping from 125 to 98 units. The medium segment, ranging from 6.01 to 15.99 tonnes, held up slightly better but still recorded a decline of 6.1 percent. The picture becomes more critical among heavy vehicles: registrations for trucks over 16 tonnes dropped by 20 percent, from 2,635 to 2,108 units. Within this category, chassis cabs managed to limit the decline to 13.1 percent, while road tractors suffered the steepest drop, falling by almost a quarter compared to 2024, with a decrease of 24.8 percent and 1,167 units registered versus 1,552 the previous year.
Cumulative figures for the first five months of the year confirm the sector’s negative trend, with an overall loss of 9.8 percent. According to Paolo A. Starace, who has just been reconfirmed as president of the Industrial Vehicles Section of Unrae, this trend highlights the growing difficulties faced by transport companies and the broader economy. “May confirms the negative trend for the market: all segments are down, with a particularly sharp drop in road tractors over 16 tonnes, nearly 400 fewer vehicles than in 2024,” said Starace.
In his view, this scenario makes it even more urgent to move from words to action. “The promised support must quickly materialise into a multi-year extraordinary fund. Only in this way can confidence be restored to sector operators and companies enabled to plan future investments with greater peace of mind.” Without concrete interventions, Unrae warns that 2025 risks ending with a strongly negative outcome, confirming fears of a “terrible year” for the entire supply chain.
