China doubles down in Australia

Sales of new Chinese-made cars in Australia have been on the rise for a number of years now, but 2025 saw it reach new heights.

According to VFACTS sales data released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, a total of 221,699 new vehicles imported from China were sold in Australia, which is up 25.9 per cent year-on-year.

It’s worth noting that this figure doesn’t include Tesla and Polestar sales. Every Polestar and almost every Tesla (excluding the updated Model Y Performance) sold in Australia are made in China.

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Combining this Electric Vehicle Council (EVC) sales data, it’s understood more than 252,000 Chinese-made cars were sold in Australia during 2025. An exact figure can’t be determined as Tesla doesn’t provide any data indicating how many of its Australian-delivered cars were made in China and Germany.

Even despite this, China has now overtaken Thailand as the second largest new vehicle import market in Australia. A total of 249,958 Thai-made new vehicles were sold in Australia during 2025, which is down 8.2 per cent year-on-year.

It’s worth noting that this is still behind Japan, which has been the largest new vehicle import market in Australia for decades now. A total of 358,981 Japanese-made new vehicles were sold in Australia last year, which is down 5.3 per cent year-on-year.

The large jump in Chinese-made new vehicles in Australia is likely attributable to the wealth of new Chinese brands that launched last year. Examples include Deepal, Geely, JAC, Jaecoo, Leapmotor, Omoda, XPeng and Zeekr.

These brands are able to scale quickly in Australia as they view it as a test market for further expansion. Plus, there are no import tariffs to hinder potential sales.

There was also astronomical growth in a number of existing Chinese brands in Australia. Sales of Chery vehicles were up 176.8 per cent year-on-year and BYD vehicles were up 156.2 per cent year-on-year.

Chinese brands GWM, BYD and MG have all cemented their place in the top 10 best sellers and continue to grow.

Although Chinese-made car sales rose a considerable amount last year, the top 10 best-selling models were largely imported from Japan or Thailand. The best-selling Chinese-made car last year was the 10th placed Tesla Model Y with a total of 22,239 examples sold.

A number of non-Chinese carmakers have been taking note of how Chinese-made cars have been performing in Australia and are quickly pivoting to producing models in that country.

As examples, the Cupra Tavascan, Kia EV5, Lotus Eletre and Emeya, as well as the forthcoming Hyundai Elexio, Mazda 6e and Mazda CX-6e are all made in China.

For now we'll have to wait and see, but China could soon topple Japan and become the biggest new vehicle import market in Australia if it continues its trajectory.