185,000 gone in two years: The numbers behind Holden’s demise in Australia
Just over one million Holden vehicles were registered in Australia at the start of the year, representing a sharp decrease in a short period.
From once being the dominant brand on Australian roads to now falling back down the order almost 10 years after local production ended, Holdens are becoming a rarer sight locally, with new government data showing the steep decline.
The Australian Government’s Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE) this week published its Road Vehicles Australia data, using information collected on January 31, 2026.
Within the data is a breakdown of how many vehicles from the 30 top brands are on local roads, and it’s a stark reminder of the impact of Holden not only ending Australian production, but closing entirely at the end of 2020.
According to the data, at the end of January there were 1,000,292 Holdens registered in Australia, making it the fourth-most popular brand, sandwiched between Hyundai (1,342,431 vehicles) and Mitsubishi (917,678 vehicles).
While Holden is still well above Ford – which has 836,433 vehicles registered, despite having a five-year sales advantage and holding the title of Australia’s best-selling new vehicle with the Ranger – its numbers have declined significantly in recent years.
In 2024, there were 1,186,057 Holdens counted in the data, while in 2022 – the first year where no Holdens had been sold, due to left-over stock running out in 2021 – there were 1,369,528 still registered at the end of January that year.
This shows that across a four-year period of 2022 to 2026, 369,236 fewer Holdens are registered, representing a decline of almost 27 per cent. Even in the past two years, the decline has been closer to 17 per cent.
There is a caveat though, with BITRE’s data not including veteran and vintage vehicles registered for restricted use only, which means cars on historic or special-interest registration in some states, varying from 25- to 30-year restrictions depending on the jurisdiction.
The data also excludes consular vehicles and vehicles registered by the defence forces, though these are expected to contribute a small amount to the Holden total.
As you’d expect, Australia’s most popular new-car brand for the past 23 consecutive years in Toyota is the clear leader with vehicle registrations, with its figure of 3,317,413 cars on the road rising year-on-year.
Mazda holds down second place with 1,576,072 registrations, a figure which is continuing to rise, in contrast with sixth-placed Ford which has declined by 63,816 registrations in the past two years, now at 836,433.
This has left it vulnerable to Kia, which has risen to 823,647 registrations from 697,258 in the same two-year period.
Overall, Australia’s passenger vehicle fleet has reached at least 16,387,610 registrations, while the average age of the cars on the road has also increased from 11.33 years in 2025 to around 11.45 years in 2026, placing it at cars made in 2014-2015.
In total, there are 22.7 million registered motor vehicles in Australia, having risen from 18.4 million in 2016, an increase of 23.4 per cent.
Across the same 10-year period (end of 2015 to end of 2025), new vehicle sales in Australia have jumped from 1,155,408 to 1,241,037, or 7.4 per cent.
