Australia Full Year 2025: Record market, Ford Ranger threepeats at #1, BYD up to #4 in December

The Ford Ranger is #1 in Australia for the third time in a row.

Discover 80 years of Australian Historical Data here

Once again the Australian new vehicle market has defied gloomy expectations and edges up 0.3% year-on-year in 2025 to a new record 1,241,037 units vs. 1,237.287 in 2024. This is the third year in a row that Australian volumes reach record levels. SUVs gain a further 7.5% to 757,697 and 61.1% share vs. 56.8% in 2024 and 55.8% two years ago, light commercials are up 1.1% to 273,229 and 22% share vs. 21.9% last year and 22.5% in 2023 and passenger cars sink -25.7% to 164,847 and 13.3% share vs. 17.9% in 2024 and 17.4% two years ago. Finally heavy commercials drop -11.8% to 45,264 and 3.6% share vs. 4.1% last year and 4.3% in 2023. Private sales trail the market at -1.8% to 600,680 units, business sales are up 2.2% to 460,371, sales to rental companies advance 3.5% to 70,677 and government sales fall -15.3% to 32,916.

Looking at states and territories (excluding Tesla and Polestar sales), only two are in positive: Western Australia at +1% (132,067) and Northern Territory at +0.6% (10,503). Meanwhile New South Wales is off -0.3% (367,947), Victoria down -1.4% (323,768), Queensland down -1.3% (259,903), South Australia down -2.4% (78,811), Tasmania down -2.2% (19,892) and Australian Capital Territory down -3.8% (16,917). Petrol drops -10.2% to 475,279, diesel contains its loss to -1.4% to 364,605 units, HEVs shoot up 15.3% to 199,133, BEVs are up 13.1% to 103,270 and 8.3% share vs. 7.4% a year ago and PHEVs surge 130.9% to 53,484. Looking at country of origin, Japan is down -5.3% to 358,951, China soars 31.2% to become #2 at 252,928, overtaking Thailand down -8.2% to 249,958. South Korea falls -4.9% to 149,966 and Germany edges up 1.1% to 54,905.

The BYD Sealion 7 is up to #4 in December, pushing BYD to a record ranking.

In the brands charts, Toyota (-0.6%) maintains control with 19.5% share and just under 240,000 sales, over 2.5 times any other marque. This is the carmaker’s second highest ever annual volume in the country, below only last year. It is the 23rd consecutive year Toyota is the best-selling carmaker in Australia and 29th time in total. Toyota has been the #1 brand in Australia from 1991 to 1994, in 1998, 2000 and every year since 2003. The Japanese brand stays above 200,000 sales for the 21st year in the past 22 and remains the only carmaker to have passed this milestone in a single year. Ford (-5.8%) and Mazda (-4.2%) are weak below while Kia (+0.4%) is stable at #4. Hyundai (+7.7%) overtakes Mitsubishi (-17.9%) for 5th place. Tesla is down -24.8%.

The event of the year is the progression of Chinese brands. GWM (+23.4%) is up three spots to lead the way at #7 with 4.3% share, peaking at 4.8% in December. BYD (+156.2%) is the success story of the year, surging from #17 to #8. BYD broke into the monthly Top 5 for the first time in June (#5) and reached a new all time high #4 in December with a record 6.6% share. It therefore holds the records for highest ranking, volume (8,156 in June) and share for a Chinese manufacturer in Australia. Isuzu Ute (-12.2%) and MG (-18.4%) endure harsh losses in contrast. Below, Chery (+176.8%) jumps 9 spots to #13. It broke its monthly volume record for 11 consecutive months to arrive at 3,694 in December, up from 2,038 in February, and peaked at #9 in December. This year we welcome Geely (#27), Omoda Jaecoo (#32), Zeekr (#36), JAC (#40), Deepal (#45), GMC (#46) and Denza (#57).

The Toyota Prado smashes its volume record in 2025.

As for the models ranking, the Ford Ranger (-9.6%) threepeats at #1, making it the first Ford model to rank #1 for three consecutive years since the Ford Falcon did so almost 40 years ago between 1986 and 1988. The Ranger was the monthly best-seller only 3 times in 2025: in March, June and August. The Toyota RAV4 ascends to #2 at the last minute thanks to bumper last 2 months of the year. It ranked #1 four times: in January, February, November and December. As a new generation starts arriving in dealerships, the Toyota Hilux (-4.1%) remains in third place but was #1 no less than five times this year: in April, May, July, September and October.

The Isuzu D-Max (-11.1%) suffers but manages to hold onto the 4th spot while the Ford Everest (-1.3%) holds its ground against its archenemy the Toyota Prado (+166.3%) for just 55 sales, the latter smashing its volume record thanks to the new generation. The Hyundai Kona (+166.3%) surges to an all time high 7th place, beating its volume and share records as well. The Tesla Model Y (+4.6%) edges back into the Top 10 at #10, while the Chery Tiggo 4 (+950.5%) ends its first full year in market at #11, peaking at #4 in November. The GWM Haval Jolion (+36.3%) also has a record year at #14. The two most popular 2025 launches are from BYD: the Shark 6 lands at #18 and was up to #6 in February and March and #5 in June. The Sealion 7 is at #25 and surged to #4 in December.

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

Previous year: Australia 2024: Toyota RAV4 teases Ford Ranger in record market

Two years ago: Australia 2023: Ford Ranger ends 7 years of Toyota Hilux domination, record market

Full December 2025 Top 57 All brands and Top 50 models, Full Year 2025 Top 57 All brands and Top 50 models vs. Full Year 2024 figures below.