Australia March 2026: BYD first Chinese on monthly podium, BEVs (+88.9%) at record 14.6% share

7 April 2026 at 16:35

BYD is up to a record third place in March. The Sealion 08 is the #1 recent launch.

The Australian new vehicle market is off -2.6% year-on-year to 108,703 in March on what was a new March record in 2025. The year-to-date tally over Q1 is down -1.8% to 290,598. This month we are starting to see the consequences of the Middle Eastern war and inflated fuel prices. Sales by alimentation show petrol sales sinking -20.8% to 34,694 and diesel down -10.1% to 28,364. Reversely hybrids are up 6.7% to 17,953, BEVs rise 88.9% to 15,839 and a record 14.6% share vs. 7.5% a year ago in March 2025 and PHEVs gain 18.5% to 8,215. BEV share over Q1 stands at 11.8%. Private sales are down -4.8% to 52,176, business fleets off -2.7% to 40,296, rentals up 23.6% to 6,714 and government fleets down -20.9% to 2,234.

SUVs gain 2.5% to 69,258 and 63.7% share vs. 60.6% in March 2025 and 58.9% two years ago but light commercials drop -10.5% to 21,990 and 20.2% share vs. 22% last year and 21% in 2024, passenger cars fall -9.9% to 13,817 and 12.7% share vs. 13.7% in 2025 and heavy commercials gain 5.5% to 3,638 and 3.3% share vs. 3.1% last year. Excluding Tesla and Polestar sales, all states and territories are down this month bar Queensland up 3.9% to 22,812. New South Wales is down -5.9% to 31,513, Victoria down -2.5% to 28,791, Western Australia down -7.3% to 11,202, South Australia down -7.3% to 6,622, Tasmania down -1.7% to 1,744, Australian Capital Territory down -4.7% to 1,579 and Northern Territory off -17.3% to 795. Looking at sales by country of origin, China (+45.1%) cements its newfound dominance with 30,993 sales ahead of Japan (-20.4% to 26,892), Thailand (-7.1% to 20,251), South Korea (-1.8% to 13,055) and Germany (-10.2% to 4,513).

There is a big reshuffle in the brands ranking. Toyota (-19.3%) continues to underperform at 15.2% share. This is still well above twice any other carmaker in the country. Kia (+0.2%) is stable year-on-year but climbs to a record 2nd place, also hit in June 2022 and September 2022. The event of the month is the best-ever third place of BYD (+50%) with 6.6% share and just 103 sales below Kia. This is the first time a Chinese manufacturer enters the monthly Australian podium. Mazda (-10.6%) and Ford (-13.2%) both struggle and are relegated to #4 and #5 respectively. GWM (+29.3%) is back to #7 and ascends to a record volume (5,680) and share (5.2%). For its part Chery (+84.1%) ranks #10 and manages an unbelievable 14th straight month of record volumes at 4,018. Tesla is up 23.2% to #13, Geely up 542.6% to #20 and Zeekr up 533% to #27.

Model-wise, the Ford Ranger (-9.7%) keeps the lead but falls heavily, it is followed like last month by the Toyota Hilux (+2.1%) and Tesla Model Y (+63.4%). The Model Y is now up to #8 year-to-date vs. #10 over the Full Year 2025. Boosted by promotions on the outgoing generation and demo sales of the new model, the Nissan X-Trail (+25.3%) surges 40 spots on February to #4, the nameplate’s new ranking record eclipsing its previous best of #6 reached in September 2018 and February 2024. The Hyundai Kona (+15.2%) is strong at #6 followed by the Chery Tiggo 4 (+80.4%) down three spots on last month to #7 but staying #3 year-to-date. Notice also the BYD Sealion 7 (+243.8%) up to #11. Still handicapped by a lengthy generation changeover, the Toyota RAV4 (-68.5%) ranks #20 both for the month and YTD. The BYD Sealion 8 is the best-selling recent launch at #35 above the Zeekr 7X (#42), Geely Starray (#46) and BYD Atto 2 (#49).

Previous month: Australia March 2026: China becomes #1 source country, Toyota off -27.8% to lowest share in 3 years

One year ago: Australia March 2025: BYD #1 Chinese brand, BEVs down -19.9%

Full March 2026 Top 58 All brands and Top 50 models below.

Australia March 2026 – brands:

Pos	Brand	Mar-26	%	/25	Feb	2026	%	/25	Pos	FY25
1	Toyota	16,574	15.2%	– 19.3%	1	44,490	15.3%	– 23.0%	1	1
2	Kia	7,320	6.7%	+ 0.2%	4	20,630	7.1%	+ 4.5%	3	4
3	BYD	7,217	6.6%	+ 50.0%	6	17,541	6.0%	+ 100.1%	6	8
4	Mazda	7,156	6.6%	– 10.6%	2	21,890	7.5%	– 12.9%	2	3
5	Ford	7,149	6.6%	– 13.2%	3	20,172	6.9%	– 5.7%	4	2
6	Hyundai	6,979	6.4%	+ 2.4%	5	19,101	6.6%	+ 4.5%	5	5
7	GWM	5,680	5.2%	+ 29.3%	8	14,878	5.1%	+ 28.5%	7	7
8	Mitsubishi	5,001	4.6%	– 31.2%	7	14,103	4.9%	– 26.0%	8	6
9	MG	4,218	3.9%	+ 7.4%	12	10,595	3.6%	– 7.1%	10	10
10	Chery	4,018	3.7%	+ 84.1%	9	11,736	4.0%	+ 93.8%	9	13
11	Nissan	3,715	3.4%	– 8.9%	16	7,361	2.5%	– 31.0%	13	12
12	Isuzu Ute	3,525	3.2%	+ 0.5%	10	9,838	3.4%	+ 7.9%	11	9
13	Tesla	3,485	3.2%	+ 23.2%	11	7,260	2.5%	+ 40.7%	14	15
14	Subaru	2,691	2.5%	– 15.9%	13	7,683	2.6%	– 20.3%	12	11
15	BMW	2,430	2.2%	– 1.1%	17	6,186	2.1%	+ 9.9%	16	17
16	Mercedes	2,153	2.0%	– 14.9%	14	6,445	2.2%	+ 3.0%	15	16
17	Volkswagen	1,880	1.7%	– 30.4%	15	5,905	2.0%	– 18.0%	17	14
18	Honda	1,519	1.4%	– 13.9%	18	4,186	1.4%	– 1.3%	18	19
19	Suzuki	1,331	1.2%	– 21.9%	20	3,193	1.1%	– 28.5%	20	20
20	Geely	1,208	1.1%	+ 542.6%	21	2,821	1.0%	+ 1400.5%	22	27
21	LDV	1,139	1.0%	– 6.3%	19	3,264	1.1%	– 8.3%	19	22
22	Lexus	1,126	1.0%	– 13.1%	23	2,834	1.0%	– 14.6%	21	21
23	Omoda Jaecoo	1,010	0.9%	new	24	2,516	0.9%	new	24	32
24	Audi	932	0.9%	– 24.5%	22	2,650	0.9%	– 21.9%	23	18
25	Land Rover	907	0.8%	– 2.6%	27	1,707	0.6%	– 13.0%	27	23
26	Volvo	760	0.7%	+ 4.8%	26	1,806	0.6%	– 5.1%	26	24
27	Zeekr	709	0.7%	+ 533.0%	25	1,832	0.6%	+ 768.2%	25	36
28	Mini	543	0.5%	– 11.1%	28	1,370	0.5%	– 1.7%	28	25
29	Skoda	420	0.4%	– 8.5%	30	1,111	0.4%	+ 1.0%	29	28
30	Renault	345	0.3%	– 11.1%	31	982	0.3%	– 15.6%	31	29
31	Denza	318	0.3%	new	32	627	0.2%	new	36	57
32	Porsche	300	0.3%	– 35.9%	29	1,067	0.4%	– 26.2%	30	26
33	Chevrolet	296	0.3%	– 17.8%	33	830	0.3%	– 17.6%	32	31
34	Ram	268	0.2%	+ 0.8%	34	811	0.3%	+ 5.6%	33	33
35	KGM	245	0.2%	– 35.2%	35	692	0.2%	– 37.9%	34	30
36	Cupra	227	0.2%	– 45.4%	36	644	0.2%	– 18.3%	35	34
37	Fiat	212	0.2%	+ 6.5%	41	408	0.1%	– 23.3%	38	37
38	Leapmotor	170	0.2%	+ 95.4%	45	277	0.1%	+ 100.7%	42	42
39	Polestar	160	0.1%	– 12.1%	37	465	0.2%	+ 19.5%	37	35
40	Genesis	131	0.1%	+ 8.3%	38	379	0.1%	+ 12.8%	39	39
41	Foton	109	0.1%	new	40	328	0.1%	new	40	51
42	Peugeot	102	0.1%	– 38.9%	42	252	0.1%	– 32.4%	43	41
43	JAC	82	0.1%	– 29.9%	39	303	0.1%	– 42.3%	41	40
44	Deepal	63	0.1%	new	43	233	0.1%	new	44	45
45	Jeep	58	0.1%	– 69.5%	44	191	0.1%	– 64.8%	45	38
46	GMC	35	0.0%	new	46	106	0.0%	new	46	46
47	Alfa Romeo	31	0.0%	– 29.5%	47	96	0.0%	– 19.3%	47	44
48	Farizon	25	0.0%	new	53	45	0.0%	new	50	–
49	Ferrari	20	0.0%	– 39.4%	49	54	0.0%	– 6.9%	49	49
50	Aston Martin	16	0.0%	– 30.4%	51	38	0.0%	– 30.9%	52	50
51	Bentley	15	0.0%	+ 25.0%	50	42	0.0%	+ 31.3%	51	52
52	Maserati	11	0.0%	– 75.6%	48	54	0.0%	– 38.6%	48	48
53	Lamborghini	6	0.0%	– 78.6%	52	31	0.0%	– 62.2%	53	47
54	McLaren	3	0.0%	– 66.7%	56	10	0.0%	– 50.0%	55	54
55	Lotus	2	0.0%	– 60.0%	–	3	0.0%	– 81.3%	57	53
56	Citroen	2	0.0%	n/a	–	2	0.0%	– 60.0%	58	56
57	Rolls-Royce	1	0.0%	– 75.0%	54	14	0.0%	– 26.3%	54	55
58	Jaguar	0	0.0%	– 100.0%	55	7	0.0%	– 95.4%	56	43

Australia March 2026 – models:

Pos	Model	Mar-26	%	/25	Feb	2026	%	/25	Pos	FY25
1	Ford Ranger	4,452	4.1%	– 9.7%	1	12,180	4.2%	– 7.9%	1	1
2	Toyota Hilux	4,167	3.8%	+ 2.1%	2	10,592	3.6%	– 3.7%	2	3
3	Tesla Model Y	2,818	2.6%	+ 63.4%	3	5,897	2.0%	+ 89.4%	8	10
4	Nissan X-Trail	2,438	2.2%	+ 25.3%	44	3,761	1.3%	– 17.5%	21	19
5	Mitsubishi Outlander	2,318	2.1%	– 22.9%	7	6,363	2.2%	– 14.9%	4	9
6	Hyundai Kona	2,316	2.1%	+ 15.2%	8	6,178	2.1%	+ 18.8%	6	7
7	Chery Tiggo 4	2,258	2.1%	+ 80.4%	4	6,807	2.3%	+ 103.9%	3	11
8	Isuzu D-Max	2,167	2.0%	+ 3.8%	6	6,057	2.1%	– 2.2%	7	4
9	Hyundai Tucson	2,042	1.9%	+ 11.5%	12	5,476	1.9%	+ 15.6%	12	12
10	GWM Haval Jolion	2,013	1.9%	+ 28.4%	10	5,606	1.9%	+ 34.8%	9	14
11	BYD Sealion 7	1,970	1.8%	+ 243.8%	16	4,468	1.5%	+ 512.1%	15	25
12	Mitsubishi Triton	1,922	1.8%	– 1.6%	9	5,604	1.9%	+ 21.9%	10	17
13	MG ZS	1,896	1.7%	– 6.1%	15	4,500	1.5%	– 9.1%	14	13
14	Mazda CX-5	1,859	1.7%	+ 7.2%	5	6,247	2.1%	+ 12.8%	5	8
15	Toyota Prado	1,850	1.7%	– 35.6%	18	4,515	1.6%	– 46.5%	13	6
16	Ford Everest	1,805	1.7%	– 14.0%	11	5,496	1.9%	+ 10.2%	11	5
17	Toyota Corolla Cross	1,687	1.6%	+ 38.3%	30	3,610	1.2%	+ 12.4%	22	27
18	GWM Haval H6	1,665	1.5%	+ 20.7%	21	3,844	1.3%	+ 20.1%	19	26
19	Kia Sportage	1,652	1.5%	– 10.6%	13	4,322	1.5%	– 22.8%	17	15
20	Toyota RAV4	1,362	1.3%	– 68.5%	35	3,842	1.3%	– 72.2%	20	2
21	Isuzu MU-X	1,358	1.2%	– 4.4%	17	3,961	1.4%	+ 35.7%	18	20
22	BYD Shark 6	1,314	1.2%	– 53.2%	25	3,480	1.2%	– 28.0%	24	18
23	Toyota Corolla	1,259	1.2%	– 17.6%	14	4,390	1.5%	– 6.0%	16	16
24	Toyota Hiace	1,246	1.1%	– 16.5%	19	3,413	1.2%	– 6.6%	25	24
25	Toyota Camry	1,197	1.1%	+ 52.1%	20	3,225	1.1%	+ 83.4%	27	36
26	Mazda CX-30	1,185	1.1%	+ 32.7%	26	3,246	1.1%	+ 6.0%	26	29
27	Subaru Forester	1,164	1.1%	+ 7.5%	29	2,979	1.0%	– 7.1%	31	22
28	Mazda CX-3	1,161	1.1%	– 4.8%	22	3,489	1.2%	– 19.6%	23	21
29	Toyota Land Cruiser Wagon	1,123	1.0%	+ 464.3%	32	2,857	1.0%	+ 216.0%	32	28
30	GWM Cannon/Cannon Alpha	1,100	1.0%	+ 115.5%	24	3,131	1.1%	+ 456.1%	29	45
31	Mazda BT-50	999	0.9%	– 21.8%	23	3,113	1.1%	– 19.5%	30	23
32	Kia Carnival	977	0.9%	+ 6.7%	31	3,161	1.1%	+ 31.6%	28	30
33	Subaru Crosstrek	885	0.8%	+ 1.3%	27	2,572	0.9%	– 11.5%	34	32
34	Kia Seltos	849	0.8%	+ 13.8%	36	2,132	0.7%	– 2.2%	38	38
35	BYD Sealion 8	836	0.8%	new	54	1,562	0.5%	new	n/a	–
36	Kia K4	784	0.7%	+ 70.8%	28	2,771	1.0%	+ 325.0%	33	50
37	Suzuki Jimny	751	0.7%	– 6.5%	37	1,958	0.7%	– 12.0%	39	48
38	Toyota Yaris Cross	723	0.7%	– 39.3%	34	2,456	0.8%	– 18.5%	35	31
39	Honda CR-V	714	0.7%	+ 6.7%	42	1,850	0.6%	+ 11.5%	40	59
40	Mazda3	702	0.6%	– 22.4%	45	2,138	0.7%	– 31.1%	37	35
41	Chery Tiggo 7 Pro	698	0.6%	+ 114.1%	33	2,323	0.8%	+ 227.2%	36	58
42	Zeekr 7X	679	0.6%	new	39	1,725	0.6%	new	n/a	146
43	Tesla Model 3	667	0.6%	– 39.6%	53	1,363	0.5%	– 33.4%	n/a	51
44	Hyundai i30	622	0.6%	– 31.1%	38	1,842	0.6%	– 29.8%	n/a	33
45	Geely EX5	606	0.6%	+ 222.3%	63	1,437	0.5%	+ 664.4%	n/a	78
46	Geely Starray	602	0.6%	new	55	1,384	0.5%	new	n/a	154
47	BMW X3/iX3	594	0.5%	+ 47.0%	85	1,440	0.5%	+ 73.1%	n/a	66
48	Kia EV5	587	0.5%	+ 22.8%	87	1,148	0.4%	– 1.6%	n/a	68
49	BYD Atto 2	572	0.5%	new	73	1,481	0.5%	new	n/a	168
50	Mitsubishi Pajero Sport	570	0.5%	+ 10.5%	60	1,567	0.5%	+ 12.2%	n/a	55

Source: VFACTS

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