‘We’re certainly not panicking’: Toyota poised to remain at the top in Australia amid emerging Chinese players BYD, Chery and GWM skyrocketing up the sales charts

The sales charts in Australia have been shaken up over the past year with more and more Chinese brands emerging.

However, Toyota still firmly is the best-selling brand in Australia.

Toyota Australia Vice President of Sales and Marketing Sean Hanley said the company continues to be extremely strategic despite its success.

“It’s competitive. Never take position for granted,” said Hanley.

“Every day you wake up, it’s a new challenge. Every day you wake up, it’s a new way of thinking.

“The automotive industry is evolving and moving like every other industry. Quick [and] rapidly.

“So to say it’s business as usual would be an incorrect statement. But we’re certainly not panicking.

“We certainly feel confident and we feel in control of our destination. We have a good purpose. We have a great team of people and [a] dealer network that’s working towards that purpose.

“We’ve been very clear strategically for the last 10 years on what the next 10 years will look like.

“So therefore, when you’ve got a common goal and a purpose that people buy into, including consumers, then you can be confident about your future, but it’s not business as usual.

“The fact is we work hard all the time to try to get it right and there are times when we don’t get it right. We’re not perfect.

“What I love about Toyota is when we don’t get it right, god, we try hard to get it right. We don’t hide from it. We face up.

“In my 38 years [at Toyota], that’s the reason why Toyota is one of the most trusted brands in Australia and why it’s the most trusted automotive brand [globally].

In the first eight months of 2025, Toyota has sold a total of 163,491 new vehicles in Australia. The next best-selling brand is Mazda (63,208 sales), followed by Ford (62,581 sales).

While sales for these established mainstream brands are all down slightly as this year is forming as a cooler year for overall new car sales, brands such as China’s BYD and Chery are experiencing astronomical sales growth.

GWM has also asserted itself as a top 10 player in the new car sales charts. It plans to be in the top five by 2030.

Despite the influx of emerging Chinese brands, a vast array of Toyota vehicles remain at the top of their respective segments. These include the Corolla, Camry, RAV4, Prado and LandCruiser.

Where it has lost its footing is on the budget end of the spectrum with vehicles such as the MG3 overtaking the Yaris, the Mazda CX-3 outselling the Yaris Cross and the GWM Haval Jolion outperforming the Corolla Cross.

Sales for its bZ4X electric vehicle (EV) are a splash in the pan compared to top-selling rivals like the Tesla Model Y and BYD Sealion 7.

Over the next 12 months Toyota is poised to introduce another EV in the form of the larger bZ4X Touring.

It will also introduce a new-generation of its top-selling RAV4 mid-size SUV with the inclusion of a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) power option for the first time in Australia.

Toyota is launching a new petrol-electric hybrid version of the LandCruiser 300 Series in the first half of 2026 to sell alongside the existing turbo-diesel variants.