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

First Australian Top 10 finish for Chery.

09/09 update: Now with Top 341 All models ranking.

New light vehicle sales in Australia gain 2.9% year-on-year in August to 103,694 units. This is the 2nd best August volume ever below the 109,966 of August 2023. Due to a pushy first half of the year, the YTD volume is still in negative territory, just, at -0.5% to 832,068. Note the 8 months of 2024 were a record, at 836,065, so the odds of 2025 being another record year are pretty high if the market continues on its positive run. SUV sales gain 8.8% to 62,956 and 60.7% share vs. 57.4% a year ago and 56.7% in 2023, light commercials edge up 3.2% to 23,211 and 22.4% share vs. 22.3% last year and 21.9% two years ago and passenger cars crumble -14.7% to 13,897 and 13.4% share vs. 16.2% in 2024 and 17.6% in 2023. Heavy commercials drop -12% to 3,630 and 3.5% share vs. 4.1% last year and 3.9% two years ago. Excluding Tesla, Polestar and heavy commercials, private sales edge up 1.3% to 49,114, business fleets are up 4.8% to 38,672, rental fleets soar 9.6% to 6,260 and government sales drop -8.6% to 2,863. 

5 of 8 states and territories are up this month. The best performer is the Australian Capital Territory at +20.7% to 1,615, keeping in mind August 2024 was off -21.9%. Victoria is up 3.8% to 27,036, Queensland up 2.8% to 21,907, New South Wales up 2.4% to 30,536 and Western Australia up 1.6% to 10,647. Not so lucky are the Northern Territory (-7.8% to 840), South Australia (-6% to 6,404) and Tasmania (-3.1% to 1,554). As for sales by propulsion type, petrol drops -9.1% to 38,315, diesel sales actually gain ground (surely one of the only markets in the world where it does so) at +4% to 30,459, hybrids are up 4.3% to 17,381, BEVs soar 70.3% to 10,033 and 9.7% share vs. 5.8% in August 2024 and PHEVs surge 47.7% to 3,906. Looking at sales by country of origin, Japan is off -10.1% to 28,547 followed by China up 60.9% to 23,225 and 22.4% share. This is the 2nd time China is the 2nd country of origin in Australia after last June. Thailand is down -7.4% to 20,802, South Korea down -1.4% to 12,884 and Germany up 0.9% to 4,385. 

BYD ranks #6 brand in Australia in August, and is the #1 Chinese carmaker in the country.

In the brands ranking, Toyota (-3.3%) edges down to 20.1% share, still superior to its YTD level of 19.6%. Ford (-10%) is back up two spots on last month to #2 despite a significant YoY drop. Kia (+7.2%) remains in third place with 7.1% of the market, overtaking Mazda (-17.5%) thanks to the new Tasman pickup. Hyundai (+1.8%) repeats at #5 while BYD (+141.3%) shoots up two ranks on July to #6 with 4.7% share vs. 3.9% YTD. Below Mitsubishi (-17.5%) we have three more Chinese carmakers. This means there are 4 Chinese brands in the Top 10 for the first time in Australian history. A big milestone here. GWM is up 42.6% to 4.3% share, MG back up 9.6% to 2.8% and Chery (+203.8%) breaks into the Top 10 for the first time, scoring an all-time high volume for the 7th consecutive month (!) and also reaching a record share at 3.2%. Below, Polestar (+250.8%), Mini (+184.8%), Audi (+45.3%), Skoda (+28%) and Tesla (+22.3%) stand out. Omoda Jaecoo (#25) leads recent launches ahead of Geely (#29), JAC (#38), Zeekr (#41), GMC (#42) and Leapmotor (#44). IM (#46) and Deepal (#49) are both failures so far. 

Model-wise, the Ford Ranger (-9%) ranks #1 for the second time in the past three months but only the third time this year. It remains #1 year-to-date despite sales falling -15.3%. The Toyota Hilux (+7.5%) is pushed down to #2 ahead of the Toyota RAV4 (-38.7%). The MG ZS (+70.1%) benefits from promotions on the outgoing first generation and climbs to #4, the nameplate’s first Top 10 finish since last March and best ranking since July 2023 (#3). The Tesla Model Y (+74.7%) also surges ahead and is back up 45 ranks on last month to #5. The Ford Everest (-3.1%) outsells its archenemy the Toyota Prado (+67666.7%), the latter catching up on the discontinued previous generation a year ago. The Hyundai Kona (+18.5%) advances to #9, its 2nd highest ranking below the #8 it reached in June. The Toyota Corolla (-1.7%) is the only Passenger car in the Top 20. Among recent launches, notice the BYD Shark 6 up 3 spots on July to #22 and the Kia Tasman up five to #35. 

Previous month: Australia July 2025: GWM, Chery at all-time high in record market

One year ago: Australia August 2024: Declining sales, Toyota RAV4 breaks records again

Full August 2025 Top 56 All brands and Top 341 All models below.