Richard Edwards
Published 4 July 2026
BYD came closer than ever to knocking Toyota off its perch in June, finishing a mere 243 sales behind the long-time market leader as Australia posted its strongest new vehicle month on record.
Toyota held on with 19,124 sales for the month, but BYD’s 18,881 put the Chinese brand within touching distance of an outright win, an outcome that would have been unthinkable even a year ago. Ford took third on 9181, followed by Kia (8005) and Hyundai (7480).
The near miss came during a landmark month for the wider market. According to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), 131,134 new vehicles moved through the VFACTS reporting system in June, up seven percent on the same month last year. Counting every sales channel, the total reached a record 140,058 units.
Electric vehicles did much of the heavy lifting. Battery electric vehicles accounted for 23.3 percent of June sales, up from just 7.6 percent a year earlier. EV share has climbed almost without pause through 2026, rising from 8.4 percent in January to 23.4 percent in June, close to tripling in six months.
FCAI chief executive Tony Weber says the market has fundamentally changed over the first half of the year.
“The Australian automotive market has shifted on its axis during the first months of 2026. This year is likely to represent a significant turning point for the Australian automotive industry,” he says.
Weber says global uncertainty, including conflict in the Middle East and volatile petrol prices, appears to have sharpened buyer interest in vehicles that cut their exposure to fuel costs. He says part of that shift looks temporary, but part of it looks permanent and structural.
China also cemented its place as Australia’s biggest source of new vehicles, supplying 46,592 VFACTS sales in June, or 35.5 percent of the market. Japan was a distant second on 27,098, ahead of Thailand (23,297), South Korea (14,863) and Germany (5731).
BYD’s charge was equally visible in the model rankings. The Ford Ranger held on as Australia’s best seller with 5999 sales, but the BYD Sealion 7 slotted into third on 4730, splitting the Toyota HiLux 4×4 (5175) and RAV4 (4115). The BYD Shark 6 rounded out the top five with 3398, giving the brand two vehicles in the country’s five most popular.
