A man was fighting for his life last night after suffering head injuries in a crash between his car and a heavy truck.

The car was pulling out of a driveway on Saleyards Rd in Otahuhu about noon yesterday when the collision with a Mainfreight truck travelling south happened.

Inspector Cornell Kluessien of Counties Manukau police saw the accident, outside the Tai Ping Asian supermarket. "The left corner of the truck stove-ended the driver's side of the car," he said.

The driver, who is in his 50s or 60s, was taken by ambulance to Middlemore Hospital with serious head injuries.

He was in a "very serious" condition in resuscitation yesterday afternoon, and was expected to be transferred to Auckland City Hospital.

Two passengers in the car were in hospital in a stable condition.

The Honda saloon involved in the crash is registered to Ching Heng Wong of Hamilton.

Station Officer Colin Dawson of the Otahuhu fire station said: "There was a younger lady who was in the backseat who was being tended to by bystanders. She was out of the car before we arrived. The other woman passenger was still in the car; her injuries were a bit worse."

The road between Station Rd and Portage Rd was closed until about 4pm.

The driver of the truck was uninjured but was distressed and "very shaken up", Mr Dawson said.