The Tractor Melee in March 2025

The so-called tractor, which is what we often call the trailer head, is a market segment with the strongest load-bearing capacity and the highest technical level in the heavy-duty truck system. There are many star manufacturers in my country's tractor market, and FAW Jiefang has always been the leader. In 2024, FAW Jiefang's tractor sales volume was 88,700 units, ranking first in the industry.

However, in 2025, the tractor market ushered in new changes, especially in March, the sales ranking changed more. Let's take a closer look.

First place: Sinotruk (14,600 units)

In the tractor market in 2024, Sinotruk's annual sales volume was more than 20,000 units less than FAW Jiefang, ranking second in the industry. In 2025, Sinotruk began to surpass FAW Jiefang in the tractor field. Among them, Sinotruk's tractor sales volume in March was 14,600 units, ranking first in the industry, accounting for more than a quarter of the market.

Second place: FAW Jiefang (12,500 units)

Entering 2025, FAW Jiefang's overall performance of tractors was not good. Among them, the sales volume in March was 12,500 units, ranking second in the industry. However, compared with the same period in 2024, it fell by 28%, and also lost the position of tractor champion, but a lean camel is bigger than a horse, and it is still ahead of other manufacturers.

Third place: Shaanxi Automobile Group (9,808 units)

Shaanxi Automobile Group, from Shaanxi, is one of the four major heavy-duty trucks in China. In March 2025, Shaanxi Automobile ranked third in the tractor market, with sales of 9,808 units. Shaanxi Automobile's sales also exceeded Dongfeng Motor's tractor, which ranked third in the industry in 2024.

Fourth place: Foton Motor (7,857 units)

Foton Motor, owned by BAIC Group, is the top company in my country's commercial vehicle field, with strong strength in heavy trucks, medium trucks, light trucks, buses, pickup trucks, etc.

However, in terms of heavy trucks, Foton Motor cannot catch up with the four giants of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group, FAW Jiefang, Shaanxi Automobile Group and Dongfeng Motor. In March 2025, Foton's tractor sales were 7,857 units, a significant increase of 38% year-on-year, surpassing Dongfeng Motor, which can be said to be a major milestone.

Fifth place: Dongfeng Motor (7,471 units)

Dongfeng Motor, which ranked third in tractor sales in 2024, sold 7,471 units in March, ranking fifth in the industry. It is worth mentioning that in the first quarter of 2025, Dongfeng's cumulative sales of tractors fell by 17%, the largest decline among the five major tractor manufacturers.

In addition, XCMG (1,445 units), Yuancheng Commercial Vehicle (860 units), BAIC Heavy Truck (775 units), JAC Motors (651 units) and Beiben Heavy Truck (231 units) all entered the top 10 in the tractor market.

From the growth rate of tractor market sales, most manufacturers achieved year-on-year sales growth in March. Among them, Geely Yuancheng Commercial Vehicle sales growth ranked first in the industry, up to 126%. XCMG and JAC tractor sales also achieved year-on-year growth rates of 82% and 66% respectively, both of which achieved significant growth.

In contrast, the sales of the four traditional heavy-duty truck giants in tractor vehicles are relatively average. Among them, FAW Jiefang fell sharply by 28% year-on-year, Sinotruk fell by 8%, Dongfeng fell by 9%, and Shaanxi Automobile Group had a small increase of 0.2%.

In general, major new energy heavy-duty truck manufacturers such as XCMG and Yuancheng have seen significant growth in the tractor market, with the growth rate far higher than that of traditional heavy-duty truck manufacturers. For old heavy-duty truck giants such as Sinotruk, Jiefang, Shaanxi Automobile, Dongfeng and Foton, they should also actively deploy new energy heavy-duty trucks and tractors.