Car sales August 2025: Chinese brands achieve national first

• BYD, GWM, MG and Chery all in top ten
• Chinese brands hit 20%, with BYD jumping from 1.6% to 4% market share
• EV sales in August to 10,003, led by Tesla and BYD 

A distinct change is in the wind for the Australian car market, with four Chinese carmakers claiming places in the top ten new car sales in August 2025. BYD, GWM, MG and Chery landed in 6th, 8th, 9th, and 10th place respectively in monthly sales for August. With 103,724 new car sales in the month across the board according to figures from Vfacts and the Electric Vehicle Council (EVC), Chinese carmakers took almost 20 per cent of the market. 

The new milestone comes amid a large influx of carmakers from China in 2025. Some – such as Geely, Zeekr and Leapmotor – are exclusively selling electric cars. But others – GWM, Chery and MG, notably – are now established players in the market. BYD is still a relative newcomer but has branched away from being a purely electric brand, generating additional interest with its plug-in hybrid (PHEV) range. 

Compared with August 2024, new car sales were up by just 724 units. The powertrain mix towards electric and electrified vehicles is shifting gradually – though the pace depends on the segment.  

Top-selling cars in Australia – August 2025:  

Topping the sales charts, the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux came in at number one and two with 4942 and 4823 sales respectively. This was followed by the Toyota RAV4 (4115 sales), the MG ZS (2680 sales) and the Tesla Model Y (2324 sales), which has returned to the top ten after weaker sales earlier in 2025. 

Following at number six was the Isuzu Ute D-Max 2314 sales, the Ford Everest (2203) sales, the Toyota LandCruiser and Prado (2117 and 2033 sales respectively) and the Hyundai Kona (1983 sales, just 30 of which were of the electric variety). 

Utes, SUVs and EVs: Segment breakdown:  

With the incoming NVES fines active from 1 July, carmakers are under pressure to cut average emissions of the vehicles they sell, driving change in powertrain choices.  

SUVs still dominate the market, with 62,686 sold in August, accounting for 60 per cent of the market. 46.8 per cent of these are still petrol-powered but this is down from 48.2 per cent last year, while interest in hybrids has remained flat (22 per cent, a slight shift upwards from 21.5 per cent last year.) Though the RAV4 leads the segment, sales were down from 6712 last year to 4115 in August. 

Meanwhile, 15.2 per cent of SUV sales were diesel – up from 13.1 per cent in 2024, whereas electric SUV sales have doubled year-on-year, jumping to 12.3 per cent from 5.5 per cent in 2024, thanks to Tesla Model Y and BYD Sealion 7 sales. 

Utes and vans – led by the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux – claimed 25.9 per cent of the market. These are mostly diesel-powered – 73.8 per cent to be exact – about the same as last year, 74.8 per cent. while 6.2 per cent run on petrol, 5.9 per cent plug-in hybrids, while non-plug hybrids and EVs remain negligible at 0.4 and 0.2 per cent. 

In passenger cars, which make up 13.4 per cent of the market, the biggest shift is away from petrol. In August sales, 50.6 per cent were petrol-powered (down from 69.9 per cent in 2024), with hybrid sales, led by the Toyota Corolla and Camry, up slightly from 22.2 per cent in 2024 to 25.5 per cent this year, and electric sales were down, from 17.4 per cent to 15.5 per cent. Diesel car sales rose from 7.2 per cent to 7.7 per cent, while already minimal PHEV sales dipped to 0.4 per cent from 0.5 per cent. 

Which brands performed best in August 2025?  

Toyota remains the leader of the Australian car market, and despite the influx from China, claimed a slightly larger market share than a year before (20.2 per cent compared to 19.9 per cent.) 

Mazda placed second with 7.8 per cent (down from 7.9 per cent but ahead of Ford, which slipped to third at 7.7 per cent). Kia lifted from 6.6 to 6.8 per cent. 

The largest change in the top ten is that of BYD, which last year claimed just 1.6 per cent of the market, and now claims four per cent, thanks to the introduction of its all-electric Sealion 7 and PHEV Sealion 6 and Shark 6 ute. Along with fellow ocean-themed Seal, Dolphin and odd-one-out Atto 3, sales added up to 4877 units.  

EV and hybrid car sales: A closer look:  

In August, EV sales reached 10,003 units taking into account Vfacts and EVC figures, taking market share from 5.7 per cent to 9.6 per cent. Hybrids were up a smidge, from 16.1 per cent in August 2024 to 16.8 per cent in 2025, a total of 17,381 sales. While interest in plug-in hybrids is clearly gaining traction for BYD, numbers are still relatively low – just 3.8 per cent of the market up from 2.5 per cent last August – 3906 for the month in total. 

Topping the EV sales for August was the Tesla Model Y with 2324 sales, followed by the BYD Sealion 7 (1413 sales). The BYD Seal proved the favourite ahead of the Tesla Model 3 (623 sales against 603 sales), while its stablemates the Atto 3 and Dolphin followed at number five and six with 594 and 424 sales respectively.  

These were followed by the Geely EX5 (401 sales), the Kia EV5 and EV3 (367 and 295 sales) and the MG S5 (284 sales). 

Some EV sales remain uncertain because certain models are reported together with combustion versions. This article will be updated if additional data emerges. 

TABLE: Top 10 best-selling vehicles in August 2025