Lethe
Captain
2025 Australian Summary
Three Chinese brands finished in Australia's Top 10 across 2025, up from two in 2024 and one before that. GWM finished in 7th position with 52,802 sales (up 23%), just ahead of BYD in 8th position with 52,415 sales (up 156%). MG, which has been the most popular Chinese brand in Australia for a number of years now, had a second disappointing year in a row and slid to 10th position with 41,298 sales (down 18%), though at a group level SAIC remains barely in front with a combined 55,406 sales between MG and LDV brands.
The meteoric success of BYD in 2025 was built off the back of Shark 6 and, to a lesser extent, Sealion 7. The introduction of Shark 6 was probably the single largest automotive story in Australia in 2025, offering impressive value for money and unique powertrain characteristics that helped to set it apart from the sea of other utes in the country. With 18,037 units sold, Shark 6 constituted more than one-third of the brand's total sales in Australia, and comfortably exceeded the public pre-launch sales target of 10k vehicles for the year. Two other PHEV utes arrived here in the latter half of the year: GWM's Cannon Alpha PHEV (1371 sold), and Ford's Ranger PHEV (1143 sold), but neither have made the market splash that Shark 6 has. Arguably the Cannon Alpha PHEV deserves more success than it has achieved. A useful contrast can also be made with the other major Australian ute launch of 2025, Kia's (non-electrified) Tasman, which has significantly underperformed expectations despite reportedly being a highly competent vehicle from a brand that has built up a strong reputation in the Australian market over the past decade, achieving only 3924 sales over ~6 months of availability. I think the lesson here is that the Australian ute market is mature enough that adding yet another merely "competent" entrant doesn't really move the needle. If you don't have decades of legacy loyalty built up, and you're not competing on value, you need to offer something genuinely new or uniquely compelling. Shark 6 ticks the latter two boxes (value and innovation) while Tasman doesn't tick any of them. The obvious path to build upon the success of Shark 6 is to address its limitations in heavy towing and hardcore off-road performance, the better to emulate the standard-bearers such as HiLux, Ranger, D-Max, Triton. But there are other pathways available too: for a market that was previously dominated by sedan-based utes, there is currently a distinct lack of smaller utes in the Australian market. Deepal E07 is certainly an interesting vehicle in that respect.
BYD Sealion 7 was the #2 selling EV in Australia for the year with 13,410 sales, a considerable distance behind Tesla Model Y and a considerable distance ahead of everything else. EVs continue to be a slow burn in Australia, with sales rising 13.1% from 2024 to still only constitute 8.3% of sales. PHEVs were up 131% to 4.3% of sales, with Shark 6 and Sealion 6 together making up 50% of all PHEV sales. It's useful to remember that BYD's success has been achieved despite Australia's relatively low level of vehicle electrification, which should both temper expectations in the short-term while suggesting the scope for future growth potential. On the flip-side, with BYD now having occupied all the major volume segments in the market, further growth is likely to be a slower burn going forward. Don't expect a repeat of 2025 in 2026. The new NVES emissions scheme (similar to pre-Trump American CAFE) should help to shift the market in favour of NEVs over time, if it survives the inevitable political headwinds. It will also be interesting to see how the imminent introduction of Toyota's RAV4 PHEV shapes that segment of the market -- if isn't constrained by availability, that is. Below is a chart I have produced of BYD quarterly sales in Australia from launch to the present. Note that Atto 2 and Atto 1 only launched in November and December respectively, while 2026 promises to add Sealion 5 and Sealion 8 to the mix, as well as Denza B5 and B8 under that separate brand:
Tesla sales declined 25% in 2025, with the brand finishing in 15th position with 28,856 sales. Tesla's share of the BEV market continued to decline accordingly, down to a record low of 28%, with BYD just behind at 24%. Kia (8%) replaced MG (6%) in third position, while BMW (5%) rounds out the Top 5. Below are the NEVs that cleared 1200 sales in 2025:
1. Tesla Model Y -- 22,239
2. BYD Shark 6 -- 18 073
3. BYD Sealion 7 -- 13,410
4. BYD Sealion 6 -- 9055
5. Tesla Model 3 -- 6617
6. Kia EV5 -- 4787
7. Mitsubishi Outlander (PHEV) -- 4110
8. Geely EX5 -- 3944
9. BYD Atto 3 -- 3861
10. BYD Seal -- 3784
11. BYD Dolphin -- 3248
12. MG 4 -- 2986
13. Kia EV3 -- 2597
14. GWM Haval H6 (PHEV) -- 2542
15. BMW X1 (EV) -- 1888
16. MG S5 (EV) -- 1857
17. GWM Cannon Alpha (PHEV) -- 1371
18. BMW X3 (PHEV) -- 1305
19. Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (PHEV) -- 1297
20. Polestar 4 -- 1295
21. Volvo EX30 -- 1281
22. Zeekr 7X -- 1206
I have bolded those vehicles that are not produced in China.
Honourable mention goes to BYD Atto 2 which recorded 896 sales despite only launching in November (Zeekr 7X is a similarly fast-mover with deliveries commencing only in October, albeit it made the list anyway). Xpeng reportedly sold "around" 2000 vehicles here in 2025. Given that the only vehicle Xpeng has actually delivered in Australia to date is the G6, it should therefore be on this list. But Xpeng, like Mahindra, has chosen not to report Australian sales to either the FCAI or EVC.
Chery was the other major success story of 2025, with sales increasing by 177% YoY to 34,889 vehicles, placing them in 13th position in the company of Nissan and Volkswagen. A further 3721 vehicles were sold under the Omoda Jaecoo brand. I suspect that there is a considerable correlation between Chery's rise in Australia and MG's decline. Chery reportedly plans to bring both its Lepas and iCaur brands here also.
The other brand/group worth mentioning is Geely. Long represented here through Volvo, Polestar and Lotus, adding Zeekr from late 2024, in 2025 Geely also brought its own brand here, selling 5010 vehicles to finish in 27th position between Porsche and Skoda. Yet despite this relatively modest performance, EX5 sales were strong enough (3944 units) to make it the nation's fifth best-selling EV for the year, with the remaining balance of Geely sales attributed to the Starray PHEV. Zeekr chalked up 1997 sales in its first full year, bolstered by 7X deliveries beginning late in the year. Combined Geely group sales for the year (including Volvo, etc.) were 16,688.
The number of Chinese brands (and number of brands, period) in the Australian market continues to increase, and this is likely to prove unsustainable. Australia is a relatively attractive market for exporters owing to lack of a domestic brand commanding loyalty (R.I.P. Holden), low barriers to entry, high average selling price and enough volume to be worthwhile. But at the end of the day it is a market of only ~1.2m vehicles/yr that is currently home to more than 60 brands, despite Toyota ruling over the local automotive landscape with an iron first (Toyota and Lexus combined for 254,424 sales in 2025, ~20% of the entire market). I suspect that a number of brands will ultimately fail and withdraw from the Australian market in the coming years, both new Chinese entrants and more established marques alike. One to watch in that regard is Jeep, with sales continuing to trend asymptotically towards zero (1585 sales, 39th position, down 33%). It's a remarkable slide for a brand that achieved 30,400 sales back in 2014, and a cautionary tale at that. Mazda continues to defy gravity, with sales declining only modestly to 92,000 units, leaving the brand in 3rd position between Ford and Kia. Mazda is at least finally going to bring a (real) BEV to Australia in the form of the 6e, a rebadged EZ-6 born from and manufactured by the joint venture with Chang'an. A sign of things to come?
Looking to 2026, with the growth of Chery there is the tantalising prospect that we could potentially see four Chinese brands in Australia's Top 10. None of the other players in and around the mark (Isuzu, Subaru, Nissan) have particularly compelling near-term prospects, with the most pressing question being if MG can arrest its declining sales. The new U9 ute (twin of LDV Terron 9) may help with that, but it's off to a slow start. In terms of higher placings, toppling Mitsubishi at #6 seems achievable, but breaking into the Top 5 still looks a bridge too far at this point.
Numbers sourced from a variety of articles published by Drive and CarExpert, e.g. , , , .
Three Chinese brands finished in Australia's Top 10 across 2025, up from two in 2024 and one before that. GWM finished in 7th position with 52,802 sales (up 23%), just ahead of BYD in 8th position with 52,415 sales (up 156%). MG, which has been the most popular Chinese brand in Australia for a number of years now, had a second disappointing year in a row and slid to 10th position with 41,298 sales (down 18%), though at a group level SAIC remains barely in front with a combined 55,406 sales between MG and LDV brands.
The meteoric success of BYD in 2025 was built off the back of Shark 6 and, to a lesser extent, Sealion 7. The introduction of Shark 6 was probably the single largest automotive story in Australia in 2025, offering impressive value for money and unique powertrain characteristics that helped to set it apart from the sea of other utes in the country. With 18,037 units sold, Shark 6 constituted more than one-third of the brand's total sales in Australia, and comfortably exceeded the public pre-launch sales target of 10k vehicles for the year. Two other PHEV utes arrived here in the latter half of the year: GWM's Cannon Alpha PHEV (1371 sold), and Ford's Ranger PHEV (1143 sold), but neither have made the market splash that Shark 6 has. Arguably the Cannon Alpha PHEV deserves more success than it has achieved. A useful contrast can also be made with the other major Australian ute launch of 2025, Kia's (non-electrified) Tasman, which has significantly underperformed expectations despite reportedly being a highly competent vehicle from a brand that has built up a strong reputation in the Australian market over the past decade, achieving only 3924 sales over ~6 months of availability. I think the lesson here is that the Australian ute market is mature enough that adding yet another merely "competent" entrant doesn't really move the needle. If you don't have decades of legacy loyalty built up, and you're not competing on value, you need to offer something genuinely new or uniquely compelling. Shark 6 ticks the latter two boxes (value and innovation) while Tasman doesn't tick any of them. The obvious path to build upon the success of Shark 6 is to address its limitations in heavy towing and hardcore off-road performance, the better to emulate the standard-bearers such as HiLux, Ranger, D-Max, Triton. But there are other pathways available too: for a market that was previously dominated by sedan-based utes, there is currently a distinct lack of smaller utes in the Australian market. Deepal E07 is certainly an interesting vehicle in that respect.
BYD Sealion 7 was the #2 selling EV in Australia for the year with 13,410 sales, a considerable distance behind Tesla Model Y and a considerable distance ahead of everything else. EVs continue to be a slow burn in Australia, with sales rising 13.1% from 2024 to still only constitute 8.3% of sales. PHEVs were up 131% to 4.3% of sales, with Shark 6 and Sealion 6 together making up 50% of all PHEV sales. It's useful to remember that BYD's success has been achieved despite Australia's relatively low level of vehicle electrification, which should both temper expectations in the short-term while suggesting the scope for future growth potential. On the flip-side, with BYD now having occupied all the major volume segments in the market, further growth is likely to be a slower burn going forward. Don't expect a repeat of 2025 in 2026. The new NVES emissions scheme (similar to pre-Trump American CAFE) should help to shift the market in favour of NEVs over time, if it survives the inevitable political headwinds. It will also be interesting to see how the imminent introduction of Toyota's RAV4 PHEV shapes that segment of the market -- if isn't constrained by availability, that is. Below is a chart I have produced of BYD quarterly sales in Australia from launch to the present. Note that Atto 2 and Atto 1 only launched in November and December respectively, while 2026 promises to add Sealion 5 and Sealion 8 to the mix, as well as Denza B5 and B8 under that separate brand:
Tesla sales declined 25% in 2025, with the brand finishing in 15th position with 28,856 sales. Tesla's share of the BEV market continued to decline accordingly, down to a record low of 28%, with BYD just behind at 24%. Kia (8%) replaced MG (6%) in third position, while BMW (5%) rounds out the Top 5. Below are the NEVs that cleared 1200 sales in 2025:
1. Tesla Model Y -- 22,239
2. BYD Shark 6 -- 18 073
3. BYD Sealion 7 -- 13,410
4. BYD Sealion 6 -- 9055
5. Tesla Model 3 -- 6617
6. Kia EV5 -- 4787
7. Mitsubishi Outlander (PHEV) -- 4110
8. Geely EX5 -- 3944
9. BYD Atto 3 -- 3861
10. BYD Seal -- 3784
11. BYD Dolphin -- 3248
12. MG 4 -- 2986
13. Kia EV3 -- 2597
14. GWM Haval H6 (PHEV) -- 2542
15. BMW X1 (EV) -- 1888
16. MG S5 (EV) -- 1857
17. GWM Cannon Alpha (PHEV) -- 1371
18. BMW X3 (PHEV) -- 1305
19. Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (PHEV) -- 1297
20. Polestar 4 -- 1295
21. Volvo EX30 -- 1281
22. Zeekr 7X -- 1206
I have bolded those vehicles that are not produced in China.
Honourable mention goes to BYD Atto 2 which recorded 896 sales despite only launching in November (Zeekr 7X is a similarly fast-mover with deliveries commencing only in October, albeit it made the list anyway). Xpeng reportedly sold "around" 2000 vehicles here in 2025. Given that the only vehicle Xpeng has actually delivered in Australia to date is the G6, it should therefore be on this list. But Xpeng, like Mahindra, has chosen not to report Australian sales to either the FCAI or EVC.
Chery was the other major success story of 2025, with sales increasing by 177% YoY to 34,889 vehicles, placing them in 13th position in the company of Nissan and Volkswagen. A further 3721 vehicles were sold under the Omoda Jaecoo brand. I suspect that there is a considerable correlation between Chery's rise in Australia and MG's decline. Chery reportedly plans to bring both its Lepas and iCaur brands here also.
The other brand/group worth mentioning is Geely. Long represented here through Volvo, Polestar and Lotus, adding Zeekr from late 2024, in 2025 Geely also brought its own brand here, selling 5010 vehicles to finish in 27th position between Porsche and Skoda. Yet despite this relatively modest performance, EX5 sales were strong enough (3944 units) to make it the nation's fifth best-selling EV for the year, with the remaining balance of Geely sales attributed to the Starray PHEV. Zeekr chalked up 1997 sales in its first full year, bolstered by 7X deliveries beginning late in the year. Combined Geely group sales for the year (including Volvo, etc.) were 16,688.
The number of Chinese brands (and number of brands, period) in the Australian market continues to increase, and this is likely to prove unsustainable. Australia is a relatively attractive market for exporters owing to lack of a domestic brand commanding loyalty (R.I.P. Holden), low barriers to entry, high average selling price and enough volume to be worthwhile. But at the end of the day it is a market of only ~1.2m vehicles/yr that is currently home to more than 60 brands, despite Toyota ruling over the local automotive landscape with an iron first (Toyota and Lexus combined for 254,424 sales in 2025, ~20% of the entire market). I suspect that a number of brands will ultimately fail and withdraw from the Australian market in the coming years, both new Chinese entrants and more established marques alike. One to watch in that regard is Jeep, with sales continuing to trend asymptotically towards zero (1585 sales, 39th position, down 33%). It's a remarkable slide for a brand that achieved 30,400 sales back in 2014, and a cautionary tale at that. Mazda continues to defy gravity, with sales declining only modestly to 92,000 units, leaving the brand in 3rd position between Ford and Kia. Mazda is at least finally going to bring a (real) BEV to Australia in the form of the 6e, a rebadged EZ-6 born from and manufactured by the joint venture with Chang'an. A sign of things to come?
Looking to 2026, with the growth of Chery there is the tantalising prospect that we could potentially see four Chinese brands in Australia's Top 10. None of the other players in and around the mark (Isuzu, Subaru, Nissan) have particularly compelling near-term prospects, with the most pressing question being if MG can arrest its declining sales. The new U9 ute (twin of LDV Terron 9) may help with that, but it's off to a slow start. In terms of higher placings, toppling Mitsubishi at #6 seems achievable, but breaking into the Top 5 still looks a bridge too far at this point.
Numbers sourced from a variety of articles published by Drive and CarExpert, e.g. , , , .
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