Australia’s collision repair and vehicle recovery industries are increasingly being required to support two very different fleets, as older vehicles remain on the road while new-car sales shift towards larger and increasingly electrified models.
Analysis by Underground Towing & Salvage highlights the contrast between the vehicles already operating on Australian roads and those now entering the national fleet.
Almost half, or 49.3 per cent, of registered Australian vehicles were manufactured in 2014 or earlier, while the average registered vehicle is now 11.54 years old.
At the same time, SUVs and light-commercial vehicles accounted for 83.3 per cent of new-vehicle sales, pointing towards an increasingly large and heavy mix of vehicles entering the fleet.
Battery-electric vehicles are also becoming more prominent among new sales, despite remaining a relatively small proportion of vehicles currently on the road.
BEVs represented 8.3 per cent of new-vehicle sales during 2025 but accounted for only 1.2 per cent of the registered fleet.
Underground Towing & Salvage founder Joshua Harrison said these changes had practical implications for recovery operators dealing with vehicles following crashes.
“From a recovery perspective, vehicle size, weight and powertrain all influence how a damaged vehicle needs to be handled,” Harrison said.
“Larger SUVs, dual-cab utes and commercial vehicles can require different loading angles, tie-down points and truck capacities.
“Damaged EVs also need to be transported in accordance with manufacturer requirements, particularly where the condition of the high-voltage system is unknown.”
The figures do not indicate that EVs or larger vehicles crash more frequently or require towing more often. Instead, they illustrate how quickly the composition of new-vehicle sales is changing while Australia’s existing fleet remains comparatively old.
That means towing and collision repair businesses can encounter everything from vehicles more than a decade old to the latest battery-electric models, sometimes requiring significantly different recovery and handling procedures.
The changing fleet also places greater emphasis on communication between towing operators and repairers before a damaged vehicle arrives at a collision repair facility.
Understanding the vehicle’s powertrain, damage and condition can help repairers prepare appropriate storage and handling arrangements, particularly for electrified vehicles.
For recovery operators, meanwhile, the changing vehicle mix means ensuring equipment, training and procedures continue to match the vehicles they are being asked to move.
Australia’s fleet transition will take many years, with older vehicles continuing to represent a substantial proportion of vehicles on the road even as newer technologies gain market share.
For towing operators and collision repairers, that creates a period in which traditional recovery knowledge must increasingly sit alongside the skills and equipment required for newer, larger and electrified vehicles.
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