Australia bought almost exactly the same number of new vehicles in September as it did in August, but beneath the stable headline figure, the types of vehicles Australians are buying continue to change.
A combined 108,778 new vehicles were delivered during September when FCAI VFACTS figures are combined with Tesla and Polestar registrations reported through the Electric Vehicle Council. That was just 18 vehicles more than August’s 108,760 deliveries and approximately 1.8% higher than September 2025.
The overall market barely moved. The mix within it did.
September’s leading brands
| Rank | Brand | Sep 2026 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toyota | 17,682 | -3.5% |
| 2 | BYD | 8,191 | +61.1% |
| 3 | Ford | 7,592 | -8.5% |
| 4 | Kia | 5,901 | -19.5% |
| 5 | Mazda | 5,702 | -18.9% |
| 6 | Tesla | 5,654 | +21.3% |
| 7 | GWM | 5,212 | +5.4% |
| 8 | Hyundai | 5,073 | -22.0% |
| 9 | MG | 4,635 | +15.6% |
| 10 | Geely | 4,473 | +870.3% |
Battery-electric vehicles were Australia’s largest individual powertrain category for the second consecutive month. Chinese-built vehicles approached 39% of the market, BYD strengthened its position as Australia’s second-largest new-car brand, and SUVs accounted for almost two-thirds of all vehicles sold.
For Australia’s tyre industry, those changes potentially matter more than a modest movement in total sales. The vehicles entering the Australian parc today will progressively become the vehicles arriving at tyre retailers for replacement tyres in the years ahead.
EVs Lead for a Second Consecutive Month
August marked an important change in Australia’s new-car market when battery-electric vehicles outsold petrol, diesel and conventional hybrids as individual powertrain categories.
September showed that result was not confined to a single month.
BEV deliveries reached 26,287, giving electric vehicles 24.2% of the combined market. Petrol followed closely with 26,018 vehicles, while diesel recorded 25,173.
The margin between electric and petrol was only 269 vehicles, but the more significant point is that BEVs remained on top for a second consecutive month.
BEV volume actually declined slightly from the 27,078 vehicles delivered in August. Overall market volume was also virtually unchanged. Yet electric vehicles retained their position as the largest individual powertrain category.
The year-on-year comparison shows how quickly the mix has changed. September BEV sales increased 117.7%, while petrol declined 36.2% and diesel fell 18.4%. Plug-in hybrids recorded another substantial increase, rising 122.7% to 10,072 vehicles.
Conventional hybrids added another 17,843 vehicles, up 20.7%.
Combined, BEVs, PHEVs and conventional hybrids represented approximately 49.8% of September deliveries. In September 2025, their combined share was approximately 29.4%.
That does not mean electric vehicles have become Australia’s dominant powertrain across 2026, but the data is starting to become hard to ignore in terms of where people are buying:
| Fuel / powertrain | 2025 YTD | 2025 share | 2026 YTD | 2026 share | Volume change | YoY change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petrol | 368,568 | 39% | 269,691 | 28.2% | -98,877 | -26.8% |
| Diesel | 312,198 | 33% | 232,714 | 24.3% | -79,484 | -25.5% |
| Hybrid | 143,707 | 16% | 160,053 | 16.7% | +16,346 | +11.4% |
| Battery electric (BEV) | 76,443 | 8% | 180,591 | 18.9% | +104,148 | +136.2% |
| Plug-in hybrid (PHEV) | 38,041 | 4% | 85,278 | 8.9% | +47,237 | +124.2% |
After nine months, petrol remains ahead with 269,691 vehicles, followed by diesel at 232,714. BEVs sit at 180,591, representing 18.9% of the year-to-date market.
What has changed is the monthly picture. August put BEVs ahead of every other individual powertrain category, and September repeated the result.
What does this mean for tyre retailers?
Australia’s existing vehicle parc remains dominated by internal-combustion vehicles, and that will not change quickly. But the mix of new vehicles being added to that parc is shifting.
Tyre wholesalers and retails should be more mindful of the shift to the country of origin of new car sales as this will affect the brand mix of OE fitments on new cars:
| Country of manufacture | September Vehicle Sales | YoY change |
|---|---|---|
| China | 42,358 | +63.8% |
| Japan | 23,133 | -13.0% |
| Thailand | 17,800 | -15.2% |
| South Korea | 9,892 | -21.5% |
| Germany | 4,309 | -4.6% |
VFACTS recorded 36,504 Chinese-built vehicles, representing 35.5% of the FCAI-reported market and an increase of 74.2% YoY.
However, that excludes Tesla and Polestar. Once their Chinese-built vehicles are included, Chinese production rises to approximately 42,358 vehicles.
SUVs Take Almost Two-Thirds of the Market
Powertrain and country or origin is only one part of the change.
SUVs accounted for 69,712 September deliveries, representing 64.1% of the market.
Medium SUVs alone contributed 34,545 vehicles, an increase of 26.1% year-on-year, while small SUVs reached 18,600, up 8.6%.
| Category | Sales | Share |
|---|---|---|
| SUV | 69,712 | 64.1% |
| Light commercial | 20,627 | 19.0% |
| Passenger | 15,054 | 13.8% |
| Heavy commercial | 3,385 | 3.1% |
The dominance becomes even clearer further up the sales chart. Sixteen of Australia’s 20 best-selling vehicles during September were SUVs. The remaining four were utes.
No conventional passenger car appeared in the top 20.
That concentration around SUVs has direct implications for the tyre industry.
Australia’s new-vehicle market is increasingly being populated by SUV-oriented tyre fitments rather than the conventional passenger-car combinations that once represented a larger part of the market.
This means tyre retailers need to stock larger inch tyres in higher numbers for the growing SUV car population.
Ranger Returns to Number One, but Utes Remain Under Pressure
The Ford Ranger returned to the top of the Australian sales chart with 5,062 deliveries in September, more than doubling its 2,440 result from August.
That rebound needs context.
Ranger deliveries had been affected during August by a delivery and demonstrator hold associated with an airbag recall. As that bottleneck cleared, September registrations recovered.
Behind Ranger, the Toyota RAV4 recorded 4,624 deliveries, followed by the Tesla Model Y with 4,476 and Toyota HiLux with 4,455.
Just 607 vehicles separated Australia’s four best-selling models, with the Model Y finishing only 21 vehicles ahead of the HiLux.
September’s leading vehicles
| Rank | Vehicle | Sales | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ford Ranger | 5,062 | +4.0% |
| 2 | Toyota RAV4 | 4,624 | +81.0% |
| 3 | Tesla Model Y | 4,476 | +14.0% |
| 4 | Toyota HiLux | 4,455 | -11.7% |
| 5 | BYD Sealion 7 | 2,687 | +42.4% |
| 6 | Chery Tiggo 4 | 2,059 | +0.5% |
| 7 | GWM Haval Jolion | 2,018 | +7.3% |
| 8 | Geely EX5 | 2,008 | +619.7% |
| 9 | Toyota Prado | 2,006 | +6.4% |
| 10 | Isuzu D-Max | 1,866 | -6.2% |
Despite Ranger returning to number one, the broader ute market continued to contract. Australia’s 4×4 ute segment fell 13.1% compared with September 2025 and remained 13.6% lower year-to-date.
In other words, Ranger recovered. The broader ute segment did not.
The year-to-date battle for Australia’s best-selling vehicle is also unusually close.
Ranger leads after nine months with 37,858 deliveries, ahead of HiLux on 36,616 and Model Y on 35,930.
Only 1,928 vehicles separate first and third.
That places a battery-electric SUV within roughly 5% of Australia’s year-to-date market leader heading into the final quarter.
It does not tell us how the year will finish, but it does demonstrate how much the composition of Australia’s highest-volume vehicle market has changed.
BYD Strengthens Its Position Behind Toyota
Few brands illustrate the changing market more clearly than BYD.
The company recorded 8,191 September sales, an increase of 61.1% compared with the same month last year, placing it comfortably second behind Toyota’s 17,682 vehicles.
More significantly, BYD has consolidated that position across the year.
Its 76,614 year-to-date deliveries are up 102%, placing it ahead of Ford on 61,104, Kia on 60,800 and Mazda on 58,865.
Toyota remains Australia’s dominant brand with 152,944 vehicles sold through September, although its volume is down 15.9% compared with the same period last year.
BYD is not yet challenging Toyota for overall leadership, but its position as Australia’s second-largest new-car brand is increasingly significant.
Other fast-growing Chinese brands are adding to the change. GWM sold 5,212 vehicles during September, MG recorded 4,635 and Geely reached 4,473.
Geely’s EX5 also entered the monthly top 10 models with 2,008 deliveries, while the BYD Sealion 7 finished fifth with 2,687.
For the tyre replacement market, growth on this scale creates another consideration beyond total new-car volume.
Every successful new model brings its wheel sizes, load requirements and OE tyre specifications into the Australian vehicle parc. As the mix of brands and models changes, so does the range of fitments the replacement market will eventually need to support.
A Stable Market Undergoing Significant Change
September becomes more interesting when viewed alongside August.
Australia recorded 108,760 combined new-vehicle deliveries in August and 108,778 in September. From one month to the next, total market volume effectively did not change.
Yet across those two months, BEVs remained ahead of every other individual powertrain category.
At the same time, SUVs continued to dominate the vehicles Australians chose, Chinese manufacturing approached two-fifths of September deliveries, BYD consolidated second place among brands and the traditional 4×4 ute segment continued to decline despite Ranger returning to the top of the sales chart.
That is the more important story emerging from September.
Australia is not experiencing a dramatic expansion in the number of new vehicles being purchased. Instead, a relatively stable market is changing what it buys.
For Australia’s tyre industry, these changes will not transform the replacement market overnight. The existing vehicle parc is far too large for that.
But each month’s new-car sales add another layer to the vehicles tyre retailers, distributors and manufacturers will eventually need to support.
Two consecutive months do not establish a permanent trend. They do, however, make August increasingly difficult to dismiss as an isolated result.
September suggests that while Australia’s new-car market may be standing relatively still in overall volume, underneath it, the vehicle mix is changing.
A Growing Fitment Challenge
For the tyre industry, there is another dimension to this change.
An expanding range of newer vehicle brands and models means an expanding range of OE tyre fitments entering Australia. Wheel diameters, load indexes, speed ratings and tyre specifications vary between models, and some of these combinations had little or no presence in the Australian market only a few years ago.
For manufacturers, distributors and retailers, understanding what is entering the vehicle parc today can help anticipate what will eventually arrive in the replacement market.
