Electric vehicles. They pushed the new car market to heights nobody thought possible just weeks ago.
140,058 vehicles found owners in June. A record for 2026? No, a record for any month since 2017 arrived. VFACTS confirms it. CarExpert pulled the numbers.
The data isn’t all out yet, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries being stingy as usual, but we got enough from the brands to paint a picture.
BYD? Insane.
They sold 18.8k cars. More than Ford, double in fact. Third time this year they’ve sat right behind Toyota in second place. Only 243 units separated the Chinese giant from the blue oval crown holder. Can you believe it?
It wasn’t just volume, though. Their Sealion 7 SUV crushed it, finishing fourth overall. Beating the Toyota RAV4. Even the Tesla Model Y. Well. Not quite.
Tesla had its own month to remember. 8670 cars moved. Up nearly 90% from last year. A new brand high, too, shattering May’s previous record of 6k-plus deliveries.
The Model Y stayed the undisputed king, moving over 8k units. Comfortably Australia’s single best-selling vehicle.
Fuel prices spiked, supply worries grew. It’s a setup for EVs, pure and simple. 23.3% of the market went electric. A new record share, breaking the previous month’s 19.9% barrier. Hybrids and plug-in hybrids jumped along for the ride, sales climbing 35% and 158% respectively.
The Big Dogs vs The Rising Tides
Toyota held the top spot. Barely.
Byd’s June surge was likely a blip, a “feat unlikely to be repeated” according to their own words, but year-to-date Toyota still leads comfortably. 95k deliveries against BYD’s 52k. Safe for now.
Ford took the third podium spot. 9k cars. A slight dip year-on-year, but they managed to shake off Kia, who climbed slightly, and Hyundai, who lost more than 11%. Mazda slipped to seventh. Down significantly.
The top ten closed with three Chinese brands making serious noise. GWM up nearly 12%, MG climbing almost 30%, and Chery jumping half their previous volume. 45% growth isn’t noise, it’s a scream.
Who Bought What?
The Model Y took the gold. Ford Ranger second. Toyota HiLux third. The familiar utes hold the center lane.
But the RAV4? Knocked out. By the BYD Sealion 7 and the Model Y.
Even the ute hierarchy shifted. The BYD Shark 6 stole the number three ute spot from Isuzu’s D-Max.
Small SUVs? A brawl.
The Hyundai Kona stayed on top, barely edging out the BYD Atto 2, which itself nearly tied the GWM Haval Jolions and the Chery Tiggs. You buy an EV here or a hybrid there. The lines blur.
Will July look as weird?
We wait.
