Australia's new-vehicle market experienced another year of growth in 2025, marking the third consecutive period of expansion. Total deliveries reached 1,241,037 units, a marginal 0.3 percent increase over 2024. However, the market saw a slight downturn in early 2026, with February 2026 sales decreasing by 2.7 percent compared to the same month in 2025, totalling 94,131 new vehicles.
Across both periods, consumer preferences continued to evolve. Electric (EVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) saw increased adoption, while SUVs and light commercial vehicles (LCVs) further solidified their market dominance. A significant geopolitical shift was observed in the supply chain: China emerged as Australia's second-largest vehicle supplier in 2025 and became the leading source in February 2026.
Market Overview: 2025 Annual Performance
In 2025, Australia's new-vehicle market delivered 1,241,037 units, representing a 0.3 percent increase from 1,237,287 units in 2024. This period also saw new brands, including GAC and Denza, commence local operations.
Sales Trends by Fuel Type (2025):
- Electric Vehicles (EVs): Achieved 103,269 deliveries, a 13.1% year-on-year increase. EVs constituted 8.3 percent of the total market, up from 7.4% in 2024.
Tony Weber, chief executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), noted that EV market share growth was below initial projections and raised concerns about the impact of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) on vehicle availability, affordability, and consumer choice.
- Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs): Experienced a significant surge with 53,484 deliveries, up 130.9% year-on-year.
- Hybrid Vehicles: Saw strong growth with 199,133 deliveries, an increase of 15.3% year-on-year.
Market Segmentation (2025):
- SUVs: Continued to dominate, comprising 61 percent of the market, a notable rise from 56.9% in 2024.
- Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs): Maintained a strong presence, accounting for 22 percent, slightly up from 21.9% in 2024.
- Passenger Cars: Continued their decline, falling to 13.3 percent of the market from 17.1% in 2024.
Country of Origin (2025):
- China became Australia's second-largest supplier of new vehicles, surpassing Thailand but remaining behind Japan.
Market Overview: February 2026 Performance
In February 2026, 94,131 new vehicles were delivered, marking a 2.7 percent decrease compared to February 2025. This decline was broadly observed across most states and territories, with Victoria remaining flat. Sales to private, business, and government buyers all decreased, while rental sales showed an increase.
Sales Trends by Fuel Type (February 2026):
- Electric Vehicles (EVs): Demonstrated exceptional growth, increasing by 95.9 percent, largely driven by a 105.7 percent rise in Tesla deliveries.
- Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs): Continued to expand, with an increase of 20.2 percent.
- Hybrid Vehicles: Experienced a 9.6 percent decrease, primarily due to an 83.6 percent drop in sales for the Toyota RAV4, which is undergoing a generation change.
- Petrol-powered Vehicles: Fell by 17.7 percent.
- Diesel-powered Vehicles: Declined by 1.6 percent.
Market Segmentation (February 2026):
- SUVs: Maintained their leading position with 60.3 percent market share.
- Light Commercial Vehicles: Accounted for 22.5 percent of the market.
- Medium SUVs notably experienced a 9.0 percent increase in segment sales.
Country of Origin (February 2026):
- China emerged as the leading source of new vehicles, with sales of Chinese-built vehicles increasing by 50.5 percent.
- Sales of Japanese-built vehicles experienced a significant decrease of 31.3 percent.
- Korean-built vehicles saw a 2.9 percent reduction.
Brand Performance
Top-Selling Brands (2025):
Toyota maintained its position as the top-selling brand for the 23rd consecutive year, delivering 239,863 vehicles, despite a slight 0.6 percent decrease in sales.
- Toyota: 239,863 units (-0.6% YoY)
- Ford: 94,399 units (-5.8% YoY)
- Mazda: 91,923 units (-4.2% YoY)
- Kia: 82,105 units (+0.4% YoY)
- Hyundai: 77,208 units (+7.7% YoY)
- Mitsubishi: 61,198 units (-17.9% YoY)
- GWM: 52,809 units (+23.4% YoY)
- BYD: 52,415 units (+156.2% YoY) – Entered the Top 10
- Isuzu Ute: 42,297 units (-12.2% YoY)
- MG: 41,298 units (-18.4% YoY)
Nissan dropped out of the top 10, finishing in 12th position with a 21.6 percent decline.
Brands with Significant Sales Declines (2025):
Several brands experienced substantial year-on-year percentage declines in 2025, excluding extremely low-volume brands:
- Jeep: Declined by 31.5 percent to 1,682 vehicles, marking its lowest annual total since 1997. The Grand Cherokee was its top-selling model with 673 deliveries.
- Jaguar: Declined by 30.0 percent to 520 vehicles. This aligns with the brand's strategic decision to end production of its existing lineup for an electric-only transition, compounded by a cyberattack.
- Maserati: Declined by 30.0 percent to 264 deliveries, following a 40.9 percent decrease in 2023. The Grecale was its best seller with 238 deliveries.
- Peugeot: Declined by 28.8 percent to 1,350 sales. The Partner van was the leading model with 432 deliveries.
- Suzuki: Declined by 27.7 percent. Despite the new Fronx light SUV recording growth, the Swift hatchback decreased by 43.7 percent, and the Jimny recorded a 27.5 percent decline, partly due to supply interruptions.
- Porsche: Declined by 27.0 percent to 5,133 units. The Panamera was the only model to show growth (+24.2%). The Macan, its top seller, decreased by 34 percent amid its transition to an electric-only version.
- KGM (formerly SsangYong): Declined by 23.7 percent to 4,116 units, despite the introduction of the new Actyon and updated Torres SUV.
- Nissan: Declined by 21.6 percent to 35,511 units. The Pathfinder was the only model to record growth (+40%). A new-generation Navara, identified as a rebadged Mitsubishi Triton, was revealed during the year.
- Volkswagen: Declined by 20.6 percent to 28,970 vehicles. The Golf was the only passenger car to record growth (+4.0%). The Amarok dual-cab ute, Volkswagen's top seller, decreased by 35.8 percent.
- Volvo: Declined by 18.6 percent to 7,239 vehicles. The XC60 SUV increased by 7.5 percent, while the EX30 electric SUV experienced the largest decline (-39.8%).
Brand Performance Highlights (February 2026):
- Toyota: Remained the market leader despite a 27.8 percent decrease in deliveries, largely attributable to the RAV4's decline.
- Ford: Sales increased by 9.0 percent, driven by strong performances from the Ranger (+7.1%) and Everest (+47.3%).
- Mazda: Deliveries decreased by 19.9 percent, though the CX-5 showed resilience with a 15.4 percent increase.
- Kia: Sales were flat, with the new Tasman ute delivering 472 units.
- Hyundai: Deliveries rose by 4.5 percent, with the Kona as its best-seller.
- BYD: Ranked as the top Chinese brand in sixth place, achieving a 62.2 percent increase in deliveries.
- Mitsubishi: Experienced a 22.3 percent decrease, though Triton sales increased.
- GWM & Chery: GWM increased by 24.9 percent, and Chery saw a significant rise of 93.2 percent.
- Isuzu Ute: Increased deliveries by 23.7 percent.
- Tesla: Showed a remarkable 105.7 percent increase in deliveries.
- Nissan: Recorded a substantial 50.1 percent decline.
Top-Selling Models
Top-Selling Models (2025):
The Ford Ranger was Australia's best-selling vehicle for the third consecutive year.
- Ford Ranger: 56,555 deliveries (-9.6%)
- Toyota RAV4: 51,947 deliveries
- Toyota HiLux: 51,297 deliveries
- Isuzu D-Max: 26,839 deliveries
- Ford Everest: 26,161 deliveries
Hyundai's Kona was the best-selling small SUV, ranking seventh overall with 22,769 sales (+31.1%). The Tesla Model Y rounded out the top 10 with 22,239 deliveries.
Top-Selling Models (February 2026):
- Ford Ranger: 4,325 units
- Toyota HiLux: 3,625 units
- Tesla Model Y: 2,791 units
- Chery Tiggo 4: 2,315 units
- Mazda CX-5: 2,099 units