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Tim Gibson

News Journalist

3 min read

Many of the regular family SUV favourites have made the best-sellers list for 2025, at a time when more brands are joining the battle for sales. 

Hybrids have a significantly increased presence on the list, while traditional internal combustion options remain prevalent as well.

These are the top five best-selling family cars heading into 2026. 

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Toyota RAV4

The Toyota RAV4 was the second-best selling car overall in 2025 and tops the family SUV list with nearly 52,000 sales, despite a more than 10 per cent drop year-on-year as a new-generation looms.

With a starting price of $45,990, before on-road costs, the outgoing RAV4 is available exclusively as a hybrid, which starts from just under $60,000. 

The hybrid consists of a four-cylinder 2.5-litre turbo-petrol engine and single electric motor, which produce a combined 143kW. 

The incoming new-generation RAV4 will remain hybrid only, even introducing a long-awaited plug-in hybrid.

Ford Everest

Ford’s Everest large SUV is next on this list with more than 26,000 sales in 2025, and a starting price of $59,490, before on-road costs. 

Based on the best-selling Ranger, the Everest currently features four-cylinder 2.0-litre twin-turbo diesel and six-cylinder 3.0-litre turbo-diesel engine choices. 

The 2.0-litre Everest produces 154kW and 500Nm, while the 3.0-litre has 184kW and 600Nm. 

The Everest range underwent a shake-up last year, with several variants being cut, and the announcement of the 2.0-litre twin-turbo engine will be phased out. 

Toyota Prado

Toyota makes another appearance in the list in third position, with its Prado, selling marginally less than the Ford Everest

The Prado is significantly bigger than the RAV4, and is only available with a four-cylinder 2.8-litre turbo-diesel engine, producing 150kW and 500Nm. 

It remains one of only a few Toyota models, including the full-on four-wheel drive LandCruiser 300 Series, which do not yet have a hybrid set-up available. 

The Prado starts from $72,500 before on-road costs, rising to just under $100,000 for the top-spec model. 

Hyundai Kona

The Hyundai Kona small SUV managed more than 22,000 sales in 2025, with its cheapest petrol variant starting from $32,950, before on-roads ranging up to $71,000 for the top-spec EV. 

The Kona currently comes with diverse petrol, hybrid and electric powertrains, with petrol and hybrid units vastly outnumbering electric in sales.

The 2.0-litre petrol engine produces 110kW and 180Nm, while the 1.6-litre petrol hybrid produces a combined 104kW/265Nm.

There are two electric versions of the Kona, producing 99kW/255Nm and 150kW/255Nm.

The range also features a sporty 1.6-litre petrol turbo all-wheel drive variant, with 146kW and 265Nm.

Mazda CX-5 

The Mazda CX-5 rounds out the top five, managing only a few less units than the Kona. 

The base CX-5 starts from $36,740, before on-roads, and comes with a 2.0-litre petrol engine, producing 115kW and 200Nm. 

There is also a 2.5-litre petrol engine, which produces 140kW/252Nm or an all-wheel drive only turbocharged version producing 170kW/420Nm, with the most expensive variant priced at $55,650. All variants have a six-speed traditional automatic transmission.

Australia will get a long-awaited new-generation CX-5 in the middle of this year. A hybrid version of this new version will finally debut as far out as 2027.

Top 5 best-selling family cars 2026

Vehicle SalesPercentage change
Toyota RAV451,947-11.5%
Ford Everest26,161-1.3%
Toyota Prado26,101+166.3%
Hyundai Kona22,769+31.1%
Mazda CX-522,742-0.4%
Photo of Tim Gibson
Tim Gibson

News Journalist

One of Tim’s earliest memories of cars is sitting in an Aston Martin at a car lottery in Heathrow Airport as a child preparing to come back to Australia after a holiday. He dreamed of being a journalist from early high school and worked as a football match reporter for his local association in the Illawarra before moving on to bylines at Football New South Wales and Football Australia. After working on radio at ABC Illawarra during university, Tim joined CarsGuide as a News Journalist to tackle the latest motoring news.
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