Large American Pick-Up Truck Sales Continue to Plummet in Australia

By Ben McKimm - News

Updated: 2 June, 2026

ShareCopy Link0

Readtime: 6 min

Every product is carefully selected by our editors and experts. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more. For more information on how we test products, click here.

It seems that the once forbidden fruit has gone a little sour. Larger, more powerful, more capable utes seemed like a smart path forward for car brands in Australia and at one point, it was. Back in 2022, our market purchased 8,538 new pick-ups priced over $100,000. By the end of the next year, that figure had surged to 10,363, and it eventually peaked at 10,611 total sales in 2024. But the truth is that explosive growth was underwritten by generous federal tax incentives, such as Temporary Full Expensing, which subsidised the purchase of six-figure trucks for business owners. With those tax breaks now gone, the sector’s facing a harsh correction.

By the end of 2025, annual segment volume had already decreased significantly to 8,763 units. Fuel prices didn’t help, and the slump accelerated into 2026. In April, the segment recorded just 560 sales. That’s a 12.5 per cent contraction from the 640 units sold during the same month last year. Heavy hitters took the brunt of the impact with deliveries of the RAM 1500 nearly halved to just 121 units, while the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 dropped 17.9 per cent to 128 units. This isn’t an isolated event at the top end of town, but a reflection of broader market cooling, with the mainstream 4×4 utility segment dropping 15.4 per cent year-on-year to 13,251 deliveries in April.

Headline sales data might suggest that certain models, such as the Ford F-150, are defying gravity to post volume growth, but that success is largely artificial. Dealerships are leaning heavily on five-figure driveaway discounts and hefty bonuses on older stock to keep the metal moving. Genuine operators are pivoting towards heavy-duty variants, while lifestyle buyers are turning to more affordable alternatives in the dual-cab segment. It seems Australia’s appetite for pick-ups hasn’t disappeared entirely, but where does that leave the future of American trucks Downunder? Lets find out.

Rise and Fall of the Premium Pick-Up

Looking at historical year-end data for the “Pick-Up/CC > $100K” segment, we see exactly how dramatic the peak and subsequent valley have been.

The massive influx of volume through 2022 and 2023 aligns perfectly with the availability of unlimited instant asset write-offs. For primary producers, tradespeople, and small business owners, this meant a $130,000 RAM or Silverado could be written off entirely in a single financial year, creating an artificial surge in demand for luxury commercial vehicles.

Now that the Australian Taxation Office has reverted to a strict $20,000 threshold for the Instant Asset Write-Off, these vehicles must be placed into a depreciation pool. Without the instant tax relief to offset the massive initial outlay, the financial viability of purchasing a premium truck has shifted entirely. Of course, fuel price rises haven’t helped either, since most of these trucks use V8 engines.

Buying Market Share

Looking strictly at the latest monthly ledger, the Ford F-150 looks like the sole survivor of the 1500-class bloodbath. The model posted a 61.5 per cent gain, recording 84 sales in April 2026, compared with 52 in the same month last year.

Yet, this growth appears to be bought with heavy financial sweeteners. Rather than signalling an organic wave of demand, Ford’s numbers are the result of aggressive retail campaigns aimed at clearing a backlog of locally remanufactured inventory from three years ago.

• Dealerships have resorted to shaving $8,000 off older MY23 stock.
• Newer MY24 variants are being pushed out the door with sharp driveaway pricing:
  • $115,000 for the XLT
  • $144,000 for the Lariat, and $164,000 for the Platinum

When a brand has to subsidise a vehicle with massive discounts just to secure 84 deliveries in a month, it underscores the market’s fragility. Brands can’t rely on tax incentives to close the deal anymore so they’re having to buy their market share with discounts.

Heavy-Duty Holds the Line

While the standard 1500-class trucks struggled, the data shows a distinct pivot toward genuine heavy-duty capability. Buyers who’re willing to spend over $100,000 without a blanket tax write-off are increasingly demanding maximum utility for their money.

• Chevrolet Silverado HD grew by 43.4 per cent in April 2026, recording 109 sales
• RAM 2500 saw a 3.8 per cent bump to 54 units
• RAM 3500 jumped from just 2 sales in April 2025 to 13 in April 2026

These Heavy Duty 2500 models are strictly utilised for heavy towing, extreme payloads, and agricultural or mining work. These buyers are genuine commercial operators who need the capability and will purchase the asset regardless of shifts in tax policy. Because of these heavy-duty gains, the overall year-to-date volume for the >$100K pick-up segment remained remarkably flat in April 2026, dropping by a mere 0.1 per cent to 3,007 units.

Surprising Resale Resilience

Perhaps the most surprising takeaway from this market shift is what’s happening at the used-car lot.

When new sales plummet and manufacturers return to aggressive showroom discounting, standard industry logic dictates that used values should be in freefall. But a scan of the used market for the F-150, Silverado, and RAM 1500 shows the exact opposite. Depreciation on these massive towing rigs hasn’t materialised into a crash, and they’re retaining their value remarkably well, floating around the AUD$120,00 mark. This indicates that the underlying demand for a 4.5-tonne towing capacity, a V8 powertrain, and a cavernous cabin remains strong nationwide.

So clearly the appetite for full-size pick-ups hasn’t disappeared entirely, but buyers have realised another, more affordable alternative to these full-size trucks at face value.

Where to Next? Enter the Ford Ranger Super Duty

With the 1500-class suffering without its tax breaks and the 2500-class trucks commanding steep prices for their capability, there’s a gaping hole forming in the Australian towing market. This is exactly where the Ford Ranger Super Duty wants to shake things up.

Now available, the Super Duty is a heavily re-engineered version of Australia’s most popular ute, specifically designed to poach buyers who previously would have looked at an import. It boasts figures that rival the big trucks, with a 4,500kg braked towing capacity, 4,500kg Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM), and a massive 8,000kg Gross Combined Mass (GCM). Backed by Ford’s 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6, it offers the pulling power of a Silverado or a RAM but in a much more practical footprint.

What’s really going to disrupt the market, however, is the price. With the Ranger Super Duty lineup starting around $83,000 for cab-chassis models and topping out around $100,000 for the XLT Double Cab Pick-Up, it entirely circumvents the $120,000+ entry fee of the giants. For the genuine operators who just need to pull a heavy load safely and legally, the Ranger Super Duty could be the nail in the coffin for the 1500-class boom.