BYD reaches latest Australian milestone, but Toyota still the market leader
Chinese car giant BYD has delivered its 150,000th vehicle in Australia after setting up shop in mid-2022, and sits second-placed in this year’s new-car sales race.
Just over four years after it started officially selling cars in Australia, BYD has reached a milestone 150,000 deliveries in local showrooms – or about as many cars as Toyota has sold this year so far.
BYD is the third Chinese brand to achieve the feat of 150,000 Australian deliveries, following MG (which notched up the figure in late 2023, not including sales under its British ownership), and GWM (mid-2024, including previous Great Wall and Haval sales).
The 150,000th BYD sold in Australia was a Seal 6 Touring, delivered to a customer in Warrnambool, Victoria at one of the brand’s most recently opened dealerships.
It comes amid a big year for BYD, which has vaulted to second position in the Australian new-car sales charts so far throughout 2026, which included a landmark result in June, when its 18,881 vehicle deliveries came just 243 shy of Toyota’s 19,124 figure.
Toyota has continued to be the market leader, with its numbers showing it has delivered 152,944 vehicles to Australian customers this year alone, with three months still left to run.
There is also a disparity between BYD’s figure of 150,000 deliveries to customers, and the official VFACTS sales data which is distributed by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).
According to the FCAI, since BYD deliveries started – through importer and distributor EVDirect – in August 2022, the brand has had 164,038 vehicles turn up on Australian shores, to the end of September 2026.
Based on previous monthly sales data, the latter figure is based on when the vehicles get “scanned in” to Australian ports, or at least arrive in holding yards, rather than when they are physically handed over to customers.
This would explain the huge uptick in BYD’s deliveries in June, when its personally owned car-carrying ship Zhengzhou arrived in Australia, carrying 4809 vehicles, contributing to that month’s 18,881 total.
Such has been the rate of BYD’s expansion, the brand has celebrated two major milestones this year, achieving its 100,000th delivery in April. Year-on-year, its sales have accelerated by 102 per cent.
While it was the Atto 3 which launched BYD’s Australian venture in 2022, the electric SUV has only been its third best-selling product, notching up just over 27,000 deliveries.
The most popular BYD in Australia has been the Sealion 7 with just over 33,300 deliveries from when it arrived in February 2025 to the end of September this year, becoming the second most-popular EV in Australia across that period.
BYD’s second-most popular model has been the Shark 6 ute, with its circa-31,600 deliveries making it the highest selling PHEV in Australian history.
Jordan Mulach
