The invention discloses an automatic vehicle type identification device based on laser radar. The device comprises a support, the laser radar arranged on the support, an auxiliary characteristic identification camera arranged on the support, and an industrial personal computer connected with the laser radar and the auxiliary characteristic identification camera through a circuit, wherein the industrial personal computer extracts vehicle outline data acquired by the laser radar and vehicle position information acquired by the auxiliary characteristic identification camera and conducts background data processing and characteristic extraction. According to the device, vehicle outline scanning and reconstruction are conducted with the laser radar and other auxiliary equipment, then various characteristics used for vehicle type identification are extracted from reconstructed vehicle outline data, finally the vehicle type is obtained through matching, and therefore short charging caused by license faking and secret replacement of vehicle equipment is avoided; the number of auxiliary equipment needed is small, identification accuracy is high, installation and maintenance are convenient, and research value is high; meanwhile, the method can be used for identifying vehicles on two adjacent lanes at the same time, and therefore using cost is reduced.