Australia’s new vehicle market edged higher in September, with growing demand for electrified vehicles continuing to reshape buyer preferences and the mix of vehicles sold.
A total of 102,924 new vehicles were sold during September 2026, an increase of 0.9 per cent compared with the same month last year.
FCAI acting CEO Dianne O’Hara said the figures demonstrated that the move towards electrified vehicles was being sustained.
“Australian motorists are embracing a broader range of powertrains, following greater model choice offered by manufacturers and growing competition,” O’Hara said.
Battery electric vehicles from all sources accounted for 24.2 per cent of September sales, more than double their 11.3 per cent share in September 2025.
Plug-in hybrid sales increased 122.7 per cent year-on-year, while hybrid sales grew 20.7 per cent. In contrast, petrol vehicle sales declined 36.2 per cent and diesel sales were down 18.4 per cent.
Across the first nine months of 2026, BEVs represented 18.9 per cent of the market, compared with 8.1 per cent over the corresponding period last year.
Light commercial vehicle sales fell 13.2 per cent during September, but this was offset by passenger vehicle growth of 6.3 per cent and a 6.1 per cent increase in SUV sales.
China was the largest source of vehicles sold during the month, accounting for 35.5 per cent of the market, ahead of Japan at 22.5 per cent, Thailand at 17.3 per cent and South Korea at 9.6 per cent.
The Ford Ranger remained Australia’s highest-selling model with 5,062 sales, followed by the Toyota RAV4 with 4,624 and Toyota HiLux with 4,455.
The BYD Sealion 7 was fourth with 2,687 sales, while the top 10 also included the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro, GWM Haval Jolion and Geely EX5.
Toyota retained overall market leadership with 17,682 vehicles, followed by BYD with 8,191 and Ford with 7,592.
O’Hara said consumers were increasingly selecting from the available technologies according to their individual requirements, reinforcing the continuing diversification of Australia’s new vehicle market.