Australia August 2026: BEVs up 169.4% to outsell petrol at record 24.9% share, Geely breaks into Top 10

The Geely EX2 is up to #20 for its second month in market.

New vehicle sales in Australia are up 4.9% year-on-year in August to 108,760 units. This is the 2nd best August volume ever just below the 109,966 sales of August 2023. The year-to-date tally is up 2% to a new record 848,918, eclipsing the previous best of 836,065 from 2024. The biggest event of the month is the fact that BEVs are now the most popular fuel type in the country, shooting up 169.4% to 27,028 units and 24.9% share, a new record, vs. just 9.7% in August 2025 and 5.8% two years ago. As a reminder the BEV share record stood at 11.8% as recently as last February. This is a major market shift for Australia where we witness first hand the consequences of high fuel prices in the wake of the war in Iran. Year-to-date BEV sales are up to 154,304 and 18.2% share. Meanwhile petrol falls -32.6% to 25,824 (243,673 YTD), diesel drops -22.5% to 23,608 (207,541 YTD), HEVs gain 7.4% to 18,562 (142,210 YTD) and PHEVs soar 171.1% to 10,591 (75,206 YTD).

SUVs continue to shoot up at +15.6% year-on-year to 72,752 units and 66.9% share vs. 60.7% in August 2025 and 57.4% two years ago, light commercials drop -22.1% to 18,081 and 16.6% share vs. 22.4% last year and 22.3% in August 2024 and passenger cars post a rare gain at +7.4% to 14,930 and 13.7% share vs. 13.4% a year ago and 16.2% in 2024. Heavy commercials sink -17.4% to 2,997 and 2.8% share vs. 3.5% in 2025 and 4.1% two years ago. Excluding Tesla, Polestar and heavy commercials, private sales are up a very encouraging 7.7% to 52,916 whereas business fleets drop -5.8% to 36,426, rentals edge up 0.1% to 6,277 and government sales freefall -18.9% to 2,323.

The Tesla Model Y is the best-selling vehicle in Australia for the 2nd time ever.

Looking at sales by state and territory, Tasmania delivers the best performance at +9.3% to 1,698, followed by Western Australia at +8.7% to 11,572, South Australia at +4% to 6,660, Northern Territory at +2.5% to 861 and Victoria at +0.9% to 27,270. All others are in negative, with New South Wales down -0.1% to 30,517, Queensland -4.8% to 20,849 and the Australian Capital Territory at -6.4% to 1,512. As for country of origin, China is by far the most popular with sales surging 88.9% to 43,882 and 40.3% share. It ranked a distant #2 last year and is followed by Japan down -12.8% to 24,892, Thailand off -24.7% to 15,658, South Korea down -14.2% to 11,060 and Germany down -15.2% to 3,718. 

In the brands ranking, Toyota (-5.2%) continues to struggle but at 18.1% share it is well above its paltry 15.9% from YTD. BYD (+68.8%) ranks #2 for the 5th consecutive month and improves to 7.6% share vs. 7.2% in July. It holds 8.1% of the market YTD. Tesla (+162.6%) surges to #3 with 7.1% share which are new record, previous best being #4 and 6.2% last June. Kia (-12.2%), Mazda (-9%) and Hyundai (-15.3%) all fall, but GWM (+8.5%) is up two spots on July to equal its ranking record at #7.

The Zeekr 7X repeats at #10.

Ford (-39.8%) endures a mediocre month at #8 with 4.4% share and falls to #4 year-to-date, overtaken by Kia. This is Ford’s worst ranking since we started to follow the Australian brands charts monthly in January 2011. Previous worst was #7 in February 2015, March 2015 and March 2020. Meanwhile MG (+22.2%) is up one rank to #9 and Geely (+1023.2%) cracks the Australian Top 10 for the first time at #10, also reaching all-time high share (4.1%), and volumes (4,504) for the 7th straight month. Chery (+28.2%) ends a surreal 18 months streak of record volumes and falls to #11. Omoda Jaecoo (+340.6%) is up to #14 while Zeekr (+2309.1%) breaks into the Top 15 for the first time at #15 with a record volume (2,120). All in all, Chinese brands are up 80.7% in August to 31.5% share vs. 18.3% a year ago. Hit full frontal by the Chinese competition, Mitsubishi (-42.6%) sinks to #13, its lowest ever ranking in Australia.

Model-wise, the Tesla Model Y (+176%) is up to #1 for the second time in the past three months (and ever), climbing to 5.9% share. The Toyota RAV4 (+32.9%) is knocked down to #2 and is stuck at a distant #4 year-to-date. Lukewarm performance for the Toyota Hilux (+0.2%) stable in a positive market despite its new generation. It outsells a freefalling Ford Ranger (-50.6%) for the second straight month. The Toyota Prado (+21.7%) is up four spots on July to #4, its best ranking since February 2025. The BYD Sealion 7 (+56.6%) posts another strong result at #6, the #1 Chinese model above the Chery Tiggo 4 (+13%). The Geely EX5 (+385.5%) is up one rank on last month to reach a record #8 followed by the GWM Haval Jolion (+21.1%) while the new Zeekr 7X repeats at a fantastic 10th place. The new Jaecoo J5 is up two spots to #13, the new Geely EX2, one of the cheapest BEV available, is an instant success: up to #20 for its second month in market, and the new Geely Starray is up four ranks to #21.

Complete models data will be uploaded to this article when made available to us.

Previous month: Australia July 2026: Toyota RAV4 #1, Geely EX5 and Zeekr 7X inside Top 10

One year ago: Australia August 2025: Four Chinese brands in the Top 10 for the first time

Full August 2026 Top 60 All brands and Top 25 models below.

Australia August 2026 – brands:

PosBrandAug-26%/25Jul2026%/25PosFY25
1Toyota  19,71218.1%– 5.2%1135,26215.9%– 17.3%11
2BYD8,2317.6%+ 68.8%268,4238.1%+ 108.4%28
3Tesla7,6857.1%+ 162.6%736,0514.2%+ 100.4%815
4Kia  6,5006.0%– 12.2%354,8996.5%– 1.2%34
5Mazda  6,2035.7%– 9.0%453,1636.3%– 15.9%53
6Hyundai  5,3554.9%– 15.3%650,9366.0%– 2.0%65
7GWM4,8704.5%+ 8.5%939,7474.7%+ 15.6%77
8Ford  4,8164.4%– 39.8%553,5126.3%– 14.5%42
9MG4,7674.4%+ 22.2%1032,1973.8%+ 12.8%1010
10Geely4,5044.1%+ 1023.2%1119,1592.3%+ 600.3%1327
11Chery4,2383.9%+ 28.2%833,8174.0%+ 64.3%913
12Isuzu Ute2,7902.6%– 13.4%1326,0973.1%– 10.3%129
13Mitsubishi2,6122.4%– 42.6%1230,4763.6%– 29.0%116
14Omoda Jaecoo2,2032.0%+ 340.6%1613,1461.5%+ 709.5%1932
15Zeekr2,1201.9%+ 2309.1%1710,0701.2%+ 1550.8%2136
16Subaru  2,0271.9%– 36.7%1419,1252.3%– 27.5%1411
17Nissan1,7391.6%– 33.4%1917,1842.0%– 33.6%1512
18Mercedes1,6741.5%– 24.3%1516,9692.0%– 8.2%1616
19Volkswagen1,6291.5%– 38.0%1815,5621.8%– 21.4%1814
20BMW1,5221.4%– 11.6%2015,6191.8%– 12.7%1717
21Lexus1,1631.1%– 0.4%238,5151.0%– 13.6%2421
22Honda  1,1001.0%– 7.2%2110,5701.2%+ 1.5%2019
23LDV1,1001.0%– 11.8%248,5471.0%– 11.9%2322
24GAC1,0661.0%new252,0740.2%new36 –
25Suzuki  9330.9%+ 11.7%228,8051.0%– 16.0%2220
26Audi7130.7%– 49.7%267,6850.9%– 19.6%2518
27Volvo5820.5%– 9.2%284,7110.6%– 1.1%2724
28Land Rover5390.5%– 19.1%274,8720.6%– 15.6%2623
29Xpeng5110.5%new485680.1%new45 –
30KGM4700.4%+ 53.1%292,5140.3%– 14.0%3330
31Mini4020.4%– 6.5%303,5550.4%– 5.4%2825
32Skoda3530.3%– 16.0%332,7510.3%– 5.2%3128
33Chevrolet2970.3%– 13.9%322,3710.3%– 8.8%3431
34Porsche2900.3%– 30.8%312,7040.3%– 29.3%3226
35Denza2610.2%new342,9540.3%new3057
36Renault2500.2%– 24.0%362,9590.3%– 7.5%2929
37Ram2370.2%– 8.8%352,0770.2%– 7.4%3533
38Foton1530.1%new381,0260.1%new4051
39Fiat1460.1%– 4.6%371,2180.1%– 2.1%3937
40Polestar1360.1%– 40.4%391,4790.2%– 9.3%3735
41Leapmotor1120.1%+ 286.2%401,0220.1%+ 168.2%4142
42Genesis1040.1%– 21.8%419860.1%– 4.5%4239
43Peugeot880.1%– 24.8%455630.1%– 41.4%4641
44JAC770.1%– 43.8%445710.1%– 50.2%4440
45Cupra740.1%– 60.6%421,2850.2%– 33.8%3834
46Farizon500.0%new462590.0%new48 –
47Deepal450.0%+ 181.3%438610.1%+ 455.5%4345
48Jeep210.0%– 86.5%474010.0%– 71.2%4738
49Lamborghini210.0%+ 40.0%521070.0%– 42.5%5447
50Aston Martin190.0%+ 72.7%541180.0%– 0.8%5350
51GMC180.0%– 59.1%512370.0%+ 46.3%4946
52Bentley140.0%+ 16.7%55970.0%+ 21.3%5552
53Ferrari130.0%– 35.0%491260.0%– 10.6%5149
54Maserati100.0%– 54.5%531250.0%– 34.9%5248
55Alfa Romeo90.0%– 67.9%502240.0%– 34.3%5044
56Lotus30.0%– 62.5%56130.0%– 73.5%5853
57Rolls-Royce30.0%– 25.0%58350.0%– 22.2%5655
58McLaren10.0%– 83.3%57240.0%– 48.9%5754
59Citroen00.0%– 100.0% –30.0%– 62.5%6056
60Forthing00.0%new –20.0%new61 –

Australia August 2026 – models:

PosModelAug-26%/25Jul2026%/25PosFY25
1Tesla Model Y6,4145.9%+ 176.0%331,4543.7%+ 136.3%310
2Toyota RAV45,4705.0%+ 32.9%126,5853.1%– 18.4%42
3Toyota Hilux4,8334.4%+ 0.2%232,1613.8%– 10.1%23
4Toyota Prado2,4752.3%+ 21.7%813,6591.6%– 31.6%136
5Ford Ranger2,4402.2%– 50.6%432,7963.9%– 11.8%11
6BYD Sealion 72,2132.0%+ 56.6%517,2772.0%+ 161.9%625
7Chery Tiggo 42,0121.8%+ 13.0%617,8062.1%+ 50.4%511
8Geely EX51,9471.8%+ 385.5%910,7371.3%+ 292.4%1978
9GWM Haval Jolion1,8911.7%+ 21.1%1415,0331.8%+ 22.4%914
10Zeekr 7X1,7481.6%new109,1721.1%new21146
11Isuzu D-Max1,7081.6%– 26.2%1216,3711.9%– 12.6%84
12Hyundai Kona1,6881.6%– 14.9%716,9162.0%+ 11.8%77
13Jaecoo J51,6721.5%new159,4391.1%new20 –
14Ford Everest1,6601.5%– 24.6%1314,4901.7%– 14.4%105
15Kia Sportage1,5861.5%– 4.1%1612,7731.5%– 6.6%1615
16Hyundai Tucson1,5481.4%+ 15.5%1714,2721.7%+ 5.5%1112
17Mazda CX-51,4601.3%– 2.1%1113,8381.6%– 9.6%128
18BYD Shark 61,3851.3%+ 9.8%2212,0941.4%– 6.4%1718
19MG ZS1,3571.2%– 49.4%1811,8221.4%– 18.0%1813
20Geely EX21,2791.2%new561,7530.2%new97 –
21Geely Starray1,2781.2%new256,6690.8%new37154
22Tesla Model 31,2711.2%+ 110.8%1374,5970.5%– 1.8%4551
23Mitsubishi Triton1,1611.1%– 23.8%2012,8311.5%+ 4.4%1517
24Toyota Land Cruiser Wagon1,1501.1%– 4.8%199,0001.1%+ 16.6%2228
25Mitsubishi Outlander1,1311.0%– 36.3%2113,3201.6%– 11.5%149
26BYD Atto 21,1221.0%new237,7370.9%new29168
27Kia Carnival1,1101.0%+ 23.5%367,9700.9%+ 9.0%2730

Source: FCAI, VFACTS