In the first half of 2025, the new light vehicle market experienced some surprising shifts. Subcompact car sales rose sharply—up 50.5% overall and 94.5% in Q2—driven by growth in the Fiat 500E and strong sales of the Mitsubishi Mirage and Nissan Versa, despite historically low volumes.

Small pickups and vans also performed well, with sales increasing 38.7% and 38.1% respectively.

In contrast, luxury passenger cars dropped 46.9%, intermediate cars fell 33.6%, and the sport segment declined 18.9%, though Q2 was stronger than Q1.

Light trucks continued their long-term growth trend, rising 7.0% to 852,000 units, while passenger car sales dropped 3.1% to 124,000 units.