Tesla News

Tesla is giving Australia a preview of a driverless future, as it prepares to give its Cybercab a tour of Down Under.The Cybercab is Tesla’s answer to driverless taxis such as those from Waymo that operate en masse in US cities such as San Francisco.Tesla is currently running a Cybercab trial in Austin, Texas, with the steering wheel-less vehicle ferrying around customers.There are currently no firm plans to launch trials in Australia.The American electric carmaker is bringing the Cybercab to Australia from September, but you won’t see it on public roads.The Cybercab will be on static display in Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth during the next three months.Tesla has made it very clear this isn’t a launch of its autonomous cab, but is just a showcase to show the future.The company is using the showcase to give fans and onlookers a chance to sample its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in a Model 3 sedan or Model Y SUV.A Full Self-Driving (Supervised) subscription is available on modern Teslas for $149 per month.“Cybercab is the destination. Model 3 and Model Y are how Australians and New Zealanders get there today,” said Thom Drew, Tesla Country Director.“When people see Cybercab at our locations, we want them to understand they are looking at the future of the same autonomous technology they can already experience with Full Self Driving (Supervised),” he said.Tesla said in a release: “Anyone considering a new Tesla can see both sides of that story in one visit, the vehicle built for autonomy and the vehicles already delivering Tesla’s autonomous software to Australian and New Zealand roads.”Tesla’s FSD (Supervised) uses an array of cameras to self navigate on public roads.You put a destination into the navigation and it will take you there. It will change lanes, stop at traffic lights, navigate complicated roundabouts and everything in between.We’ve test FSD (Supervised) on Australian roads previously, read our full impressions here. You don’t have to have your hands on the steering wheel, but you do need to be paying attention to the road ahead or it will sound the alarm.

To be honest I didn’t think this would happen so fast but it really does appear the end is nigh for the internal combustion engine in Australia, because for the first time sales of electric cars have overtaken petrol ones. So how does Australia compare for EVs sales compared to the rest of the world? Australia is punching well above its weight. Australia is ranked high when it comes to EV sales compared to the world, but wait until you see how high.Australians bought 27,089 electric vehicles in August, which represent 24.9 per cent of the market. Not included in this are hybrids or plug-in hybrids, and that makes this number even more significant.In comparison the total sales of petrol cars in August, including light commercial vehicles, came to 25,824.August’s sales came off the back of a bumper July total of 23,510, but they weren’t the largest recorded - that claim to fame goes to June with 32,570 sales. August was a big month for EV sales in other parts of the world, too.Sales of EVs in France reached a record 38 per cent of the market or 36,159 electric cars. Quick reminder: Australia for the same month has 24.9 per cent and 27,089 electric cars.Let me also tell you that France is placed fourth in the world rankings for August EV sales.Of course this is nothing compared to China’s EV sales, which were approximately one million for August.Yes, China sold the same number of electric cars in August as the almost the combined sales of petrol, diesel, EV, and hybrids in Australia in any given year.With China in the No.1 place; in second place for August is Germany with 68,930 sales; then in third is the United States with about 65,000; then France with its 36,159; followed by the United Kingdom with 27,876; and then in sixth place is Australia with 27,089.We just missed out on being in the top 5 for August EV sales.Australia’s year-to-date battery electric vehicle sales through to the end of August come to 154,313.This places Australia in seventh place globally for the year so far, behind China in first place with approximately 6.06 million sales; then in second place is the US with about 500,000 sales; then Germany in third with 446,615; the UK is in fourth with 327,683; then France with 322,097; and then South Korea with 272,000.Petrol sales year to date have reached 243,673, which is 89,360 sales of the 154,313 EV sales.So while monthly sales of EVs are beginning to overtake petrol car sales, we won't see the electric car sales total for the year eclipse those of petrol in 2026.A recent report from the NRMA found there are approximately 500,000 EVs on Australian roads and this accounted for just three per cent of the total number of registered vehicles. But as we have seen by the monthly figures EV sales are at a high level and staying high. The NRMA said by 2040 10 per cent of registered vehicles will be EVs, and modelling by the CSIRO predicts by 2050 97 per cent of all light passenger cars will be battery electric vehicles.The Tesla Model Y is not just the biggest selling EV, it's also is the best selling of all cars in Australia right now with 6414 sold in August.The BYD Sealion 7 electric SUV with 2213 sales is the fifth best-selling car in Australia, while the Zeekr 7X is in ninth place with 1748 sales.

A former prime minister is backing Australia’s carmaking industry to make a triumphant return. Kevin Rudd told the National Press Club on September 10, 2026 new technologies available could return the industry to its former glory. Australia used to have a thriving car industry, with it being one of the biggest manufacturing hubs globally. Ford, Holden and Toyota all had major operations in Australia, spanning across decades. The Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore dominated the sales charts during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Even the Tesla Model Y’s more than 8000 sales in a single month in June 2026 couldn’t eclipse the Commodore's single-month record set more than two decades ago.The federal government’s withdrawal of subsidies in 2013 in combination with increasing costs and decreasing profits saw carmakers pull out of Australian manufacturing. There are now no cars built on a commercial scale in Australia, leaving the country reliant on imports.Rudd said the then federal government’s decision to remove subsidies was the final blow to the industry. Australia’s 26th prime minister also praised the previous strength of the car industry, describing it as a “sovereign capability we are sorely missing”. “Of all the short-sighted acts of economic vandalism in recent decades, the closure of our car industry by the Abbott-Hockey government stands apart,” Rudd said. “Australia under my government had one of the most modest industry subsidies in the auto world. “But politics triumphed over reason, sacrificing tens of thousands of jobs, tearing the beating heart out of Australia’s engineering and manufacturing base, and rendering us 100% dependent on auto imports.”Rudd said that developing new technologies in the car industry could reignite interest in it. “Now the 3D printing and EV revolutions mean we can rebuild an Australian auto sector and repair this fatal vulnerability in our national security,” Rudd said. 3D printing is now an essential part of virtually every carmaker’s manufacturing processes. It can develop model prototypes quickly and improve assembly processes, among other things.It is also used for creating complex moulds in gigacasting - a process where die-casting machines shape large single-piece car body parts instead of individual steel welds. Some popular EVs rely on gigacasting in production, including the best-selling Tesla Model Y. Australia could become an EV hub of the future by investing in this technology.

It’s on X, so it must be right… right?Tesla’s official account on the social media platform has made a post signalling October 1 this year as the launch date for the much-anticipated Tesla Roadster.Sceptics might say they’ll believe it when they see it because the triple-motor EV hypercar has been ‘coming soon’ for close to a decade.Unveiled in concept form as a surprise addition to the brand’s ‘Semi truck’ reveal in late 2017, the sleek 2+2 Roadster was positioned as the fastest production car ever, with a launch originally scheduled for 2020.Claimed to sprint from 0-97km/h (0-60mph) in 1.9 seconds with a maximum velocity of 400km/h-plus and a range in excess of 1000km, the AWD machine generated huge interest with an initial run of ‘Founder’s Edition’ models priced at US$250,000 (~A$350,000).Those putting their hand up for a car from that first batch were asked to pay the full price to reserve their production slot. Purchase of the standard Roadster at US$200,000 (~A$280,000) required a $50,000 deposit.Less than six months later, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced news of a ‘SpaceX Performance Pack’ using 10 cold-air thrusters powered by a high-pressure air tank (replacing the rear seats) to achieve sub-1.0-second 0-60mph acceleration.At the time, Musk said the car would provide "roller-coaster" intensity performance and briefly be able to "fly".With estimated delivery timing for the Roadster progressively slipping further into the future - to 2022 (thanks largely to COVID-19), then 2023, then 2024, then 2025 and most recently (no joke) April 1, 2026, this may be the time Tesla Roadster 2.0 rubber finally hits the road.Musk has previously thanked what he referred to as "long-suffering" Roadster deposit holders during Telsa’s Q3 2024 earnings call and in its Q4 2025 earnings update (released in January this year), Tesla noted the Roadster is in “the final stages of preparation” with Musk adding it would be showcased at a Roadster 2 demo event scheduled for April 1, with production to begin in 2027.Needless to say, that didn’t happen, with the joke seemingly still on those who stumped up a quarter of a million dollars for a Founder’s Edition Roadster nine long years ago.But documents lodged with the United States Patent & Trademark office in February this year indicated Tesla’s second-generation Roadster was getting ready for take-off with two ‘Trademark/service mark’ applications lodged by Tesla; “a triangle design consisting of three flowing, curved lines” creating a simplified impression of the car’s silhouette and “the word ROADSTER in stylized format”.Then in late April, an additional filing added a badge-style polygon logo, again, specifically for the Roadster. Will this much-hyped, over-promised and so far under-delivered ‘new’ hypercar hit Tesla showrooms before celebrating a 10th birthday? We might know in just a few weeks but the top comment on Tesla’s X post at the time of writing is telling with ‘Scott’ posting, “Perfect timing for my midlife crisis.”

We now know the truth about how long a car battery will last.Austrian battery diagnostics specialist Aviloo has worked out which vehicles perform best when it comes to an EV battery’s state of health (SoH) over time and distance.In its 2026 Certified EV Battery Report the company has analysed more than 500,000 Aviloo ‘Flash Test’ results from 2022 to 2026 across 20 high-volume electric car models in North and South America, Europe, Australia and Asia to determine the best performers.The flash test is a three-minute diagnostic check that assesses the health and performance of an electric vehicle's high-voltage traction battery.Rather than registering a value reported by the car's on-board battery management system, the flash test “independently calculates SoH using a statistical model trained on hundreds of thousands of comparable used vehicles, factoring in mileage, age, (charge) cycle count, cell voltage spread, energy counters and other diagnostic signals.”In releasing its results Aviloo made the point that, buyers of used internal-combustion cars rely on odometer readings and service records, but was not the most accurate way to tell an EV battery's state. “The battery is the single most expensive component of an electric car, and the one with the widest variation from vehicle to vehicle.“Two used electric cars with 50,000 kilometres on the odometer might present in what appears to be identical condition but can differ by up to 10 percentage points in battery SoH,” it said.The data reflects three mileage milestones (50,000, 100,000 and 150,000 kilometres), identifying the SoH range covering 99 percent of all independently tested vehicles of that model. The company made the point, “Battery health varied within each of the 20 models tested, between models and, above all, between individual vehicles of the same model. An average per model therefore says little about a specific car."SoH can vary by up to 13.5 percentage points between the best and weakest examples of the same model,” it said.As a result the median serves as the reference point in each case.The spread across the 20 models tested was already clear at the 50,000km mark with four examples highlighted for more detailed analysis in line with their different sizes, typical use and battery types.Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 had the best SoH of the four models, with range barely falling from 335 to 321km and a spread of 37 kilometres between the extremes recorded.As one of Europe’s best-selling EVs, the VW ID.4’s potential range fell from 373 to 355km, with up to 44km between the best and the weakest vehicle at 150,000km.The Tesla Model Y, the world's best-selling car for the last three years, saw its real-world range fall from 379 to 361km at 150,000km, with a 46-kilometre difference between the best and the weakest example tested.The Nissan Nissan Leaf ZE1, with the smallest (40kWh) battery of the four models highlighted the finding that smaller batteries with more frequent charging cycles age faster on average. Across all three mileage levels analysed, the Nissan had the lowest SoH of the four models examined in detail, with its real-world range dropping from 195 to 185km.Other models that performed well after 150,000km travelled were the Mercedes-Benz EQA (93.97 SoH), BMW i4 (93.62), Hyundai Kona EV (92.95), Volvo XC40 Recharge (92.79), Ford Mustang Mach-E (92.53) and Polestar 2 (92.46).Some that didn't fare as well were the Renault Zoe (87.33) and Tesla Model 3 (88.94).Commenting on the report Aviloo CEO Dr. Marcus Berger said, “The truth in this data is that averages hide a lot. “Yes, electric car batteries age better than the myth of rapid wear suggests, but that is not the most important finding. “What matters is that battery health varies widely between models, and even more widely between individual vehicles of the same model,” he said.The Aviloo Certified EV Battery Report will now be published twice a year, drawing on the company’s global diagnostics database, which holds more than one million independent tests. 

Motoring journos spend a lot of time in all manner of cars, and with the increasing pace of change brought on by technology, new brands and electrification, we’re constantly reassessing what a good car should be.The fundamentals stay the same, of course, but car brands are increasingly trying new things. Sometimes they work, sometimes they should go back to the drawing board.Some of these are widespread, and some remain rare oddities, but it would be great if all of them vanished.I need to get this one out of the way first because if I don’t mention how driver assists are ruining the driving experience in some cars, I’ll be called out in the comments.In a lot of cases I actually think driver assists are becoming better tuned and brands are realising we would like easy ways to turn them off, but there are still lane-keeps and driver monitors that would drive a saint to swear.The traditional method of pulling a lever down to ‘drive’ has always worked well, everyone quite naturally knows how to do it.I’ll even concede that the return of column-mounted shifters is a nice way to clear-up space in the centre console, as long as the direction you need to pull the shifter follows logic.But ever since a gear selector dial in a Ford Focus ST-Line wagon caught me off guard in 2019, I’ve seen more odd shifter methods creeping in. From individual buttons on the dash (Jeep Avenger) to the swipe on the screen for each direction (Tesla), these methods are annoying to use in a hurry.If you’re in the middle of a three-point turn and you have to look at what you’re doing with your hands to get the car into reverse, a designer somewhere has failed.The biggest culprit for weird and unintuitive door handles is, to most people, Tesla. Many have commented on being confused when faced with entry to a Model 3 Uber that’s pulled up to the kerb for a pick-up.Tesla is not alone in this, however.On the inside, the current Ford Ranger and Ford Everest have ‘squeeze’ handles, many new EVs have buttons to open, and other new car doors have handles that open incongruently with how your arm moves as you open the door to exit.On the outside, the Zeekr 7X has exterior buttons on the b-pillars to open the doors electrically, some cars have retractable handles so they sit flush with the door, and others have similar frustrating handles that you must first ‘press’ to pop-out before you can open the door.Not only is it frustrating for your passengers, but it can also be unsafe in an emergency.RFID (short for ‘radio frequency identification’) or NFC (near field communication) functions are pretty handy for plenty of things: contactless payments, building access fobs, even your toll pass or data transfer.More specifically, NFC has been adapted by some brands to cards used to unlock and even start new cars, like the Volvo EX30 or the Leapmotor B10.Tap the card in the right place (like the b-pillar or the driver wing mirror) and the car unlocks, then place the card in the centre console slot and the car starts. No fobs with buttons for unlocking your car on approach or unlocking it from a distance.Inconvenient? Very. Annoying? Yes. And it means you have to find somewhere to keep the card rather than just having the fob on your keyring.The implementation of the central touchscreen in new cars has become an anathema to convenience. It’s now an easy way for designers to create ‘sleek’ environments and for engineers to save money on buttons.It’s also now allowing some manufacturers (Volvo, you again) to move some otherwise out-of-the-way controls to a digital home.The electric seat adjustments that used to sit on the side of the seat or on the door, the side mirror adjustment controls that could once be found by the window, and in some cases the steering column adjustment controls - all now on-screen controls as far as Volvo is concerned.It’s not alone, as some new Chinese brands are doing the same, but it’s especially disappointing from the brand that once made the three-point seatbelt design public domain in the interest of safety over profit.I think cars that make sounds on unlock and lock, akin to a PC or old Macintosh startup sound, are more embarrassing than actually annoying but they’ve made the list nonetheless.I don’t need my car to chime away when I unlock it in the car park at work, especially not when people are already looking at the car and trying to figure out what it is. I’m looking at you, Zeekr and now GWM.Some of them are loud, some of them can be disabled, all of them are unnecessary.

For the first time ever in Australia, sales of electric vehicles (EVs) surpassed every other powertrain type for a month.Combining both the latest VFACTS and EV Council sales data, a total of 27,078 EVs were sold during the month of August.EVs notably outsold petrol (25,824, down 32.6 per cent YOY) and diesel (23,608, down 22.5 per cent YOY) vehicle sales, however when you combine the two pure combustion powertrain choices they still well and truly outperformed EVs.Additionally, 24.9 per cent of overall vehicles sold in August were EVs, meaning almost one in four. This is also a new record.While EVs had a sharp uptick in sales compared to August 2025, plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) had an even sharper growth. A total of 10,591 examples were sold during August 2026, which is up 171.1 per cent year-on-year.During the month of August, the best-selling EV by far was the Tesla Model Y. A total of 6414 examples were sold, which is up 176 per cent year-on-year.This was followed by the BYD Sealion 7 (2213, up 56.6 per cent YOY) and the Geely EX5 (1947, up 385.5 per cent YOY).The following is a breakdown of the top 10 best-selling EVs during the month of August: While EVs outsold petrol- and diesel-powered cars in August 2026, the year-to-date (YTD) sales figures paint a different picture.Until the end of August, a total of 154,304 EVs were sold, which is up 139.7 per cent year-on-year.For context, a total of 243,673 petrol vehicles and 207,541 diesel vehicles were sold over the same period, which is down 25.7 per cent and 16.2 per cent, respectively, year-on-year.If trends do continue we could expect to see EV sales overtake petrol or diesel around early-to-mid 2027. There are a lot of factors that may change this, but it’s clear that EV demand in Australia is higher than ever.

Aussie car buyers can’t get enough of the Tesla Model Y right now.Tesla’s mid-size SUV topped the sales charts for August 2026, fending off three Toyota models in the latest set of data. Total car sales held relatively steady in August, with plenty of the usual players occupying the top spots. Electric cars are also making an impact Down Under.Four electric-only models made featured in the top 10 last month.The Tesla Model Y surged to the top of the monthly standings once again, with 6414 sales as its new three-row Model Y L experienced sustained popularity.Combining sales of its Model 3 sedan, Tesla was the third best-selling brand in the country. Toyota’s near 20,000 sales was the best out of any brand, and saw it occupy second, third and fourth on the standings. Its new RAV4 continues to impress (5470), followed by the Hilux ute (4833) that now holds a healthy lead over its arch rival the Ford Ranger (2440). Sales numbers start to drop off after the HiLux, with the Prado’s 2475 rounding out the top four. The Ford Ranger ute experienced another decline in August 2026, falling to fifth position on the standings (2440).The Ranger has been the best-selling car in Australia for the last three consecutive years, but sales decreased in August 2026 by more than 50 per cent compared to August 2025.  The next five cars were from Chinese brands as they increased their grasp over the Australian market. The BYD Sealion 7 mid-size SUV finished in sixth place (2213), followed by the Chery Tiggo 4 small SUV (2012), with the Geely EX5 registering 1947 examples last month. BYD may only have had one car in the top 10, but it was the second best-selling brand in Australia in August 2026.Key Tiggo 4 rival, the GWM Haval Jolion, sold 1891 units, while the Zeekr’s 7X sold 1748 units last month. The Isuzu D-Max took out ninth spot for the month (1708), with the Hyundai Kona finishing off the top 10 with 1688 sales. 

Tesla has recalled nearly three million cars in China in the country's biggest recall ever.This recall impacts flush door handles on more than four million cars from not just Tesla but Geely, Xiaomi and XPeng, too.Flush door handles became popular in part thanks to Tesla. Some only pop out when required, as opposed to conventional handles, which can always be used.The trend took off in China, and features on many cars built in the country now.They have now been found to be a serious safety concern following several incidents globally, with this recall the latest step to curb risk.This recall has been brought about by two fatal Xiaomi crashes in China, among many other incidents.The two Xiaomi incidents are suspected to have been caused by power failures preventing car doors from being able to be opened.Tesla accepted in a statement that interior door handles are “difficult to identify and operate because their colour is similar to the interior trim.”“In extreme situations such as a severe collision causing the vehicle's low-voltage system to fail, this could hinder occupants from quickly opening the doors to escape and impede rescue efforts by those outside the vehicle, posing a safety hazard,” the statement continued.Recalled vehicles will be fitted with a physical warning label on the interior door and receive a software update to automatically lower the windows in a crash.The Chinese government passed legislation to ban flush door handles earlier this year that will kick in from 1 January 2027. Cars will only be allowed to be sold in China if they have a mechanical release inside and outside. It’s not just China where flush door handles are of concern. The BBC reports the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the United States have anecdotes of the door handles not working and leaving children trapped in cars. The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) is Australia's vehicle safety watchdog.ANCAP’s Chief Executive Officer Carla Hoorweg told CarsGuide earlier this year the body would stick with its current review cycle, but still monitor design developments across all markets. ANCAP recently introduced its 2026 protocols with a bigger focus on preventing crashes rather than just impact testing.The banning of flush door handles will be felt around the world, including Australia, where many cars built in China are sold, both from Chinese and international brands.New cars imported from China to Australia will no longer feature flush door handles from 2027.

It ultimately helped end Holden, and the same can happen with an alarmingly high number of other prominent car brands.We’re talking about the over-reliance on one single model in Australia.It is the ‘eggs all in one basket’ that leaves sales and financials vulnerable when the inevitable happens – a popular model starts to run out of steam with consumers.Factors include newer competition, ageing models and external outside forces like spiking oil prices and evolving buyer tastes.Here, then, are some of Australia’s most vulnerable brands due to the over-dependence on one model line.Geely’s ‘Gen-Z geek’ sub-brand has struck a chord with Australians thanks to the strikingly styled 7X, and deservedly so.However, did you know there are two other, older Zeekr models sitting beside it on the showroom floor? A smaller SUV known as the X and a large people mover badged 009.Combined, they make up just 6.4 per cent of Zeekr’s year-to-date (YTD) sales, while the 7X takes the lion’s share at an incredible 93.4 per cent. Let’s hope the latter keeps the momentum up.Tesla’s Model 3 may have opened the floodgates for electric vehicles (EVs) in Australia since arriving in mid 2019, but it has now been subsumed by the larger SUV offshoot, the Model Y.The YTD sales data tells the story, with the 3’s sales tumbling 18.4 per cent to 3326 units, while the Y’s tally – supercharged by the new three-row L version – has now breached the 25,000 mark.That puts the hunchbacked SUV at 88.3 per cent of total Tesla sales, with the sedan taking the remaining 11.7 per cent.But with no S, X or ute to provide support, the Model Y is vulnerable against an unrelenting tide of mid-sized EV SUV alternatives, like the Zeekr 7X.From nowhere, the cheapest Jaecoo from Chery’s Land Rover-aping sub-brand, the J5, is responsible for more than two-thirds of all volume.This leaves three other models, the J7, J8 and Omoda 9, to fight over the crumbs.Isuzu hasn’t developed its own passenger car since the early 1990s, electing to concentrate on utes and trucks instead.The D-Max is responsible for 63 per cent of all Isuzu Ute sales YTD. It sits fourth after the Ranger, HiLux and Shark 6 on the charts.The other 37 per cent belongs to the M-UX SUV version of the ute, and that currently occupies third place amongst large SUVs behind the Ford Everest and Prado.This country sure loves a body-on-frame three-row wagon.But both Isuzus are diesel-only powered, meaning that, with no hybrid or EV in sight for Australia, Isuzu Ute faces steep fines due to the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) carbon tax.And that’s just going to increase annually in severity, which will really hurt Isuzu Ute, unless it pulls something out of the hat, and fast.Australia’s top-selling vehicle since 2023, the Ranger is responsible for some 62.3 per cent of Ford’s total volume YTD.Combined with its Everest SUV offshoot, that jumps to a staggering 88.7 per cent. Given there are seven other distinct models squabbling over the remaining 11.3 per cent, that's a worry.The next most popular Ford YTD is the Transit Custom van at just three per cent, followed by the Mustang at 2.8 per cent, F-150 at 2.45 per cent, Transit Cargo at 1.9 per cent, Tourneo people mover at 0.5 per cent and Mustang Mach-E at 0.33 per cent.But storm clouds are in the air for the Blue Oval’s popular ute-based duo, with both Ranger and Everest sales down this year, thanks to fierce competition from new rivals including the BYD Shark 6 plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV).While a Ranger PHEV does exist, it costs too much and delivers too little by comparison, meaning the vast majority of volume belongs to the diesel versions.That’s a lot of NVES fines Ford is facing, unless the incoming Bronco PHEV SUV and other future EVs grow the brand's share of the total market without cannibalising Ranger and Everest.With demand for the latest Vitara tanking, the Swift hybrid struggling and the Fronx floundering, it’s been the Jimny small 4WD that has kept Suzuki humming along, accounting for 56.6 per cent of all volume YTD.Likewise, the Defender attracts the most business for Land Rover in Australia, taking 54.1 per cent of all orders YTD.The Haval Jolion small SUV has performed the heavy lifting for GWM YTD, at 53.9 per cent of total sales, as has the X-Trail for Nissan, at 53 per cent.Australia’s continuous number one since 2003, Toyota boasts several high-volume models, including the RAV4, Prado, Corolla, HiAce, Camry and Yaris Cross.Yet even the brand’s most popular vehicle – the HiLux – only makes up 23.6 per cent of the company’s total sales YTD.Similarly, BYD’s top performer, the Sealion 7, is at 25 per cent, Kia’s biggest crowd-pleaser, the Sportage, is at 23.1 per cent and this country’s favourite Mazda, the CX-5, is at 26.4 per cent.The smaller the percentage, the higher the chances are your brand will weather any storm. Sadly, the writing was on the wall long before Australia's Own started to see its sales slide.Holden’s downfall is largely down to its over-reliance on one model. It was always the way, right back even before the Kingswood years.Here's the most telling stat. Australia’s best-seller for 15 years in a row from 1996 until 2011, sales of the Commodore crashed to just 50 position in 2019.That was following the disaster that was replacing the rear-drive VF series made in Australia with the smaller, front-wheel drive-based Opel Insignia out of Germany as the ZB series. This happened as a result of Holden’s manufacturing shutdown in 2017.The latter bombed so hard that it was cancelled in December of 2019, with Holden effectively over by the following February.