October sales up 3.8% as battery EVs take 23.1% of the market

Australian new vehicle sales rose 3.8% in October to 103,325, with battery electric vehicles taking 23.1% of the market once Tesla and Polestar are counted.

Year to date the market sits at 1,017,637, up 0.4% on the same period last year.

Toyota held the lead on 20,649, up 4.7%. BYD was second on 10,025, up 153.2%, followed by Ford on 7,310, down 3.4%, Kia on 5,801, down 12.2%, and Mazda on 5,730, down 19.7%.

MG took sixth on 4,676, up 31.5%, ahead of Hyundai on 4,571, down 28.6%, GWM on 4,417, down 0.3%, Geely on 4,365, up 520.0%, and Chery on 4,317, up 21.6%.

#	Brand	Oct 2026	Share	Oct 2025	Change
1	Toyota	20,649	20.0%	19,726	+4.7%
2	BYD	10,025	9.7%	3,959	+153.2%
3	Ford	7,310	7.1%	7,570	-3.4%
4	Kia	5,801	5.6%	6,610	-12.2%
5	Mazda	5,730	5.5%	7,140	-19.7%
6	MG	4,676	4.5%	3,556	+31.5%
7	Hyundai	4,571	4.4%	6,403	-28.6%
8	GWM	4,417	4.3%	4,431	-0.3%
9	Geely	4,365	4.2%	704	+520.0%
10	Chery	4,317	4.2%	3,550	+21.6%

Year to date, Toyota leads on 173,593, down 13.9%, with BYD second on 86,639, more than double its total at the same point last year.

#	Brand	YTD 2026	Share	YTD 2025	Change
1	Toyota	173,593	17.1%	201,535	-13.9%
2	BYD	86,639	8.5%	41,882	+106.9%
3	Ford	68,414	6.7%	78,451	-12.8%
4	Kia	66,601	6.5%	69,494	-4.2%
5	Mazda	64,595	6.3%	77,382	-16.5%
6	Hyundai	60,580	6.0%	64,861	-6.6%
7	GWM	49,376	4.9%	43,774	+12.8%
8	Chery	42,339	4.2%	27,578	+53.5%
9	MG	41,508	4.1%	36,176	+14.7%
10	Mitsubishi	35,601	3.5%	52,364	-32.0%

HiLux back on top

The Toyota HiLux was the top-selling model on 5,954 across its 4×2 and 4×4 versions, up 34.0%, ahead of the Ford Ranger on 4,841, up 10.0%. Year to date the Ranger leads by 129 units, on 42,699 to the HiLux’s 42,570.

The RAV4 was third on 4,718. Chinese models took five of the top 10 places: the BYD Sealion 7 on 2,524, Chery Tiggo 4 Pro on 2,178, BYD Atto 2 on 1,943, BYD Shark 6 on 1,843 and Geely EX5 on 1,789. The Toyota Prado (2,397) and Ford Everest (1,741) completed the list.

#	Model	Oct 2026	Oct 2025	Change
1	Toyota HiLux	5,954	4,444	+34.0%
2	Ford Ranger	4,841	4,402	+10.0%
3	Toyota RAV4	4,718	4,401	+7.2%
4	BYD Sealion 7	2,524	1,341	+88.2%
5	Toyota Prado	2,397	1,458	+64.4%
6	Chery Tiggo 4 Pro	2,178	1,975	+10.3%
7	BYD Atto 2	1,943	–	New
8	BYD Shark 6	1,843	1,070	+72.2%
9	Geely EX5	1,789	343	+421.6%
10	Ford Everest	1,741	2,435	-28.5%

Falls outside the top 10

Several established brands fell sharply. Mitsubishi was down 50.0% to 2,356, Volkswagen down 46.4% to 1,283, Audi down 44.8% to 856, Subaru down 41.5% to 1,701 and Isuzu Ute down 27.8% to 2,422.

Brands that recorded no sales in October last year added 2,384 between them. GAC posted 1,133, Xpeng 620, Denza 389, Foton 142, Forthing 55 and Farizon 45. Zeekr sold 1,874, up from 216, with the 7X accounting for 1,441. Omoda Jaecoo rose to 2,330 from 565.

Battery electric outsells petrol

VFACTS recorded 20,677 battery electric sales across passenger, SUV and light commercial, up 228.7%. Adding the 4,168 Tesla and Polestar deliveries reported to the Electric Vehicle Council gives 24,845, ahead of petrol on 23,605, which fell 35.9%. Diesel remained the largest powertrain on 25,649, down 14.7%.

FCAI puts battery electric vehicles at 23.1% of the market on an all-sources basis, against 7.3% in October 2025. On the same basis they account for 19.3% of sales so far this year.

Plug-in hybrid sales rose 148.6% to 11,745, and hybrids rose 3.8% to 18,434.

Powertrain	Oct 2026	Oct 2025	Change
Diesel	25,649	30,073	-14.7%
Petrol	23,605	36,807	-35.9%
Battery electric (VFACTS)	20,677	6,291	+228.7%
Hybrid	18,434	17,751	+3.8%
Plug-in hybrid	11,745	4,724	+148.6%
Tesla and Polestar (EVC)	4,168	–	–

The FCAI attributes the demand for battery electric vehicles this year to competition, continuing instability in the Middle East, sustained higher fuel prices and federal tax concessions.

FCAI chief executive Tony Weber says consumers are benefiting from stronger competition across brands, models and technologies.

“Australia’s open and competitive market has put consumers in the driver’s seat, with more choice across brands, technologies, features and price points. Consumers are making rational choices and are attracted to options that reduce their costs,” Weber says.

“Despite continuing pressure on household budgets and higher borrowing costs in 2026, the October result shows there is extraordinary resilience in new vehicle demand. This increase in new vehicle demand, especially BEVs, must be supported by reliable and accessible charging infrastructure that keeps pace with demand.”

SUVs and utes

SUVs accounted for 62.1% of the market on 64,163 sales, up 4.5%. Medium SUVs rose 15.0% to 28,786.

Light commercials fell 2.6% to 21,469, with four-wheel drive utes flat on 16,804. Heavy commercials fell 18.4% to 3,215.

Passenger vehicles rose 18.9% to 14,478. The light segment more than doubled to 3,737, with the Geely EX2 taking 1,350 of those sales.

By buyer type, private sales rose 5.2% to 50,876 and business sales 5.7% to 40,211. Government fell 10.9% to 2,554 and rental rose 1.3% to 6,469.

Class	Oct 2026	Share	Oct 2025	Change
SUV	64,163	62.1%	61,413	+4.5%
Light commercial	21,469	20.8%	22,053	-2.6%
Passenger	14,478	14.0%	12,180	+18.9%
Heavy commercial	3,215	3.1%	3,942	-18.4%

States

Sales rose in every state and territory except South Australia, which slipped 0.5% to 6,591. New South Wales led on 30,580, up 1.7%, followed by Victoria on 28,336, up 3.9%, and Queensland on 21,762, up 6.2%. The ACT recorded the biggest rise, up 16.8% to 1,577.

State/territory	Oct 2026	Oct 2025	Change
New South Wales	30,580	30,079	+1.7%
Victoria	28,336	27,271	+3.9%
Queensland	21,762	20,487	+6.2%
Western Australia	11,687	11,177	+4.6%
South Australia	6,591	6,623	-0.5%
Tasmania	1,778	1,691	+5.1%
Australian Capital Territory	1,577	1,350	+16.8%
Northern Territory	1,014	910	+11.4%
Total	103,325	99,588	+3.8%

China supplies more than a third

China was the largest source country on 37,503 vehicles, or 36.3% of the market, up 94.0%. Japan followed on 24,089, down 13.1%, then Thailand on 18,505, down 11.1%, and Korea on 9,531, down 23.5%.

In September, the market rose 0.9% to 102,924.