Australia's favourite vehicles revealed

The demise of diesel in Australia has been greatly exaggerated.

Five of the six top selling vehicles in Australia in 2025 are using diesel, according to the latest new car sales figures.

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It shared the podium with the Toyota RAV4 SUV (51,947) and the Toyota HiLux (51,297). A new version of the HiLux went on sale in December and an all-new RAV4 is due in the coming months, which is likely to further boost their sales.

You can throw a blanket over the next seven vehicles with about 4000 sales separating four to 10.

Leading the pack was the Isuzu D-Max (26,839), followed by the Ford Everest (26,161) and Toyota Prado (26,106).

SUVs rounded out the top 10 with Hyundai’s compact Kona the best seller with 22,749 registrations.

Next up was the soon to be replaced Mazda CX-5 (22,742), the recently-refreshed Mitsubishi Outlander (22,459) and Tesla Model Y (22,459).

Australians bought 1,241,037 vehicles in the past year, which was a slight rise of less than one per cent.

Conventional and plug-in hybrids were the big winners in the past year. Australians bought just shy of 200,000 hybrids, which was more than 15 per cent compared to 2024. 

Plug-in hybrids had an even stronger year with sales up 130 per cent, albeit off a smaller 2024 figure. A huge increase in plug-in hybrid options drove the more than 53,000 sales, with big name additions such as the BYD Shark 6 ute leading the charge.

Australians bought more than 100,000 electric cars in the past year, which is a jump of close to 10 per cent compared to 2024.

The Tesla Model Y was the best selling EV in the nation, and the 10th best selling vehicle overall, with 22,239 units sold in the past year. The BYD Sealion 7 was a distant second, with 13,410 sales.

The list of top five selling brands was filled with big name players. Toyota was way out in front, followed by Ford, Mazda, Kia and Hyundai.

China-sourced cars and Chinese brands asserted their dominance in 2025, with carmakers such as BYD, GWM and MG cementing their places in the top 10-selling brands list.

Chery had a strong year and Geely is moving up in the world thanks to strong results for its EX5 electric SUV.

China is now the third biggest exporter of cars to Australia, and is closing in on Thailand where the majority of dual-cab utes are built.

Best selling cars 2026
 

Vehicle	Sales	Percentage change
Ford Ranger	56,555	-9.6%
Toyota RAV4	51,947	-11.5%
Toyota HiLux	51,297	-4.2%
Isuzu D-Max	26,839	-11.1%
Ford Everest	26,161	-1.3%
Toyota Prado	26,106	+166.3%
Hyundai Kona	22,769	+31.1%
Mazda CX-5	22,742	-0.4%
Mitsubishi Outlander	22,459	-18.7%
Tesla Model Y	22,239	+4.6%

Best Selling brands 2026
 

Brand	Sales	Percentage change
Toyota	239,863	-0.6%
Ford	94,399	-5.8%
Mazda	91,923	-4.2%
Kia	82,105	+0.4%
Hyundai	77,208	+7.7%
Mitsubishi	61,198	-17.9%
GWM	52,809	+23.4%
BYD	52,415	+156.2%
Isuzu	42,297	-12.2%
MG	41,298	-18.4%