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September 2025 saw over 11,500 new battery electric cars (BEV) and almost 4,500 plug-in hybrid electrics (PHEV) sold into the new car market in Australia. That’s a combined 15.7% market share of overall new car sales. The increase over the past few months is holding. The total market was 102,000 new vehicles sold.
China has become the second largest supplier of cars to the Australian market and accounts for almost 80% of BEV sales. Year to date, BEVs have achieved a market share of over 8% and PHEVs sit at over 4%. That equates to a year-to-date penetration of 12% of vehicles equipped with a plug. It is good to see BYD and MG make it into the top ten automakers supplying the Australian market. The BYD Sealion 7 (BEV) was the 8th best selling model. It is BYD’s largest BEV SUV.
BYD Sealion 7.
The Sealion 7’s sales are consistently placing BYD in the top ten of car brands sold in Australia. BYD ranked “fifth in June, seventh in July and now sixth for the second consecutive month in a row.” It doesn’t hurt that BYD also sold 1,193 Shark 6 PHEV utes and 1,111 Sealion 6 PHEV SUVs.
Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive Tony Weber called for further action to accelerate the transition. He is not calling for more subsidies but for more and better charging infrastructure. In my opinion, governments should stay out of the pricing side. It is time that car companies face the competition and reduce prices. Hyundai, after stating that it wouldn’t get into a price war with Chinese manufacturers, has now changed course and brought in some drastic price reductions on its electric vehicles. Consumers will benefit.
BEVs have yet to enter the niche small-city-car market. The imminently expected launch of the BYD Seagull will remedy this. BYD has hinted that the Seagull — called the Dolphin Mini or Surf in other markets – will be priced well below the price of the base model Dolphin, which sells for approximately AU$30,000, and be renamed the Atto 1. This car is nicknamed the mini-Lambo because of it’s sleek design.
Image: BYD Seagull production, courtesy of BYD.
The Atto 1 is expected to launch in New Zealand first. So, we will certainly see it coming! Bloody Ripper! “Great to see an EV that is not an SUV,” one commentator stated. Hopefully it will start at around AU$25,000.
While the BYD Shark and Cannon Alpha PHEV utes have made a significant impact on the “pickup” segment (the largest in the Australian market), the launch of Geely’s Radar BEV ute should expand the electrification of utilities. National sales figures demonstrate the pickup-heavy nature of the Australian market. The top 3 pickup models in the country were the Toyota HiLux (5,047), Ford Ranger (4,867), and Ford Everest (2,558). But, overall, the Tesla Model Y was the third best selling vehicle — see stats below.
Model Y launch, Brisbane Australia. Photo courtesy Majella Waterworth
The top ten BEVs sold in Australia in September 2025 were (blowing a fanfare of trumpets!):
Tesla Model Y — 3,927 sales (year to date — 17,237)
BYD Sealion 7 — 1,887 (YTD — 8,483)
Tesla Model 3 — 736 (YTD — 5,416)
BYD Dolphin — 523 (YTD — 2,569)
BYD Seal — 450 (YTD — 2,955)
MG S5 EV — 386 (YTD — 1,184)
Kia EV5 — 307 (YTD — 3,901)
Geely EX5 — 279 (YTD — 3,015)
Kia EV3 — 241 (YTD — 1,940)
Volkswagen ID.4 — 177 (YTD — 729)
Australia’s top ten is looking more and more like China’s top ten, dominated by BYD and Tesla, with one South Korean make and one European one. The Tesla Model Y has made a significant bounce back up the charts, after selling only 555 units in July. Will the cheaper model be released in Australia? What about the Model Y L? Will it be sold here? Only time will tell. I don’t think Aussies care about Elon’s politics. They just want an exceptional product. It is obvious that after utes, Aussies love their large SUVs.
Even though we are seeing Xpeng models driving on Queensland roads, the company has still released no sales figures. Yahoo News reports that Xpeng was planning to import at least a thousand new cars a month in August and September. It would be great to get their sales figures, especially as it would move the percentage penetration of plugins closer to the magical 20% marker.
Compared to September 2024, PHEV sales grew by over 80%, while plugless hybrid (HEV) sales increased by about 9%, led by Toyota’s RAV4 HEV.
Although the FUD continues, and has admittedly slowed down the adoption of electric vehicles, it is being answered more and more clearly as time passes and the fearmongers are shown to be wrong. The FUD arguments age as well as milk in the schoolyard sun (ah, memories from childhood). Watch this humorous takedown of Jeremy Clarkson’s objections to EVs.
New models coming, apart from the BYD Atto 1, will include an all-electric van from Kia and yet another SUV land yacht from Chery (the Jaeco J5). Leapmotor will launch the B10, expected to be Australia’s cheapest SUV. Hopefully Leapmotor will have more success with this model. The company’s earlier launch, using a helicopter no less, has sold only 452 units year to date, despite being a great vehicle. You can read our review here.
During September (while I was admiring the build out of the high-speed chargers in China), Skoda launched the refreshed Enyaq and Tesla released the Model 3 Long Range (rear wheel drive). It has a huge WLTP range figure of 750 km. Thanks to James at EVDB for this extra news. EVDB has a dataset of the 228 BEV variants available in Australia. Worth a look here.
With only a few months to go till the end-of-year push, I now expect Australia will not just maintain 15% plugin vehicle penetration, but will show some increase in 2025. All I want for Christmas is a figure of 20%. That may be asking too much. Nonetheless, the future continues to be bright and electric Down Under.
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