Australian Electrical Car Gross sales Maintain Regular at 15% in September

Help CleanTechnica’s work by a Substack subscription or on Stripe.

September 2025 noticed over 11,500 new battery electrical automobiles (BEV) and nearly 4,500 plug-in hybrid electrics (PHEV) bought into the brand new automobile market in Australia. That’s a mixed 15.7% market share of general new automobile gross sales. The rise over the previous few months is holding. The full market was 102,000 new automobiles bought.

China has grow to be the second largest provider of automobiles to the Australian market and accounts for nearly 80% of BEV gross sales. 12 months so far, BEVs have achieved a market share of over 8% and PHEVs sit at over 4%. That equates to a year-to-date penetration of 12% of automobiles outfitted with a plug. It’s good to see BYD and MG make it into the highest ten automakers supplying the Australian market. The BYD Sealion 7 (BEV) was the eighth finest promoting mannequin. It’s BYD’s largest BEV SUV.

The Sealion 7’s gross sales are persistently putting BYD in the highest ten of automobile manufacturers bought in Australia. BYD ranked “fifth in June, seventh in July and now sixth for the second consecutive month in a row.” It doesn’t harm that BYD additionally bought 1,193 Shark 6 PHEV utes and 1,111 Sealion 6 PHEV SUVs. 

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief government Tony Weber known as for additional motion to speed up the transition. He’s not calling for extra subsidies however for extra and higher charging infrastructure. In my view, governments ought to keep out of the pricing aspect. It’s time that automobile firms face the competitors and cut back costs. Hyundai, after stating that it wouldn’t get right into a worth warfare with Chinese language producers, has now modified course and introduced in some drastic worth reductions on its electrical automobiles. Shoppers will profit.

BEVs have but to enter the area of interest small-city-car market. The imminently anticipated launch of the BYD Seagull will treatment this. BYD has hinted that the Seagull — known as the Dolphin Mini or Surf in different markets – can be priced effectively beneath the value of the bottom mannequin Dolphin, which sells for roughly AU$30,000, and be renamed the Atto 1. This automobile is nicknamed the mini-Lambo due to it’s glossy design.

The Atto 1 is predicted to launch in New Zealand first. So, we will definitely see it coming! Bloody Ripper! “Nice to see an EV that’s not an SUV,” one commentator said. Hopefully it would begin at round AU$25,000.

Whereas the BYD Shark and Cannon Alpha PHEV utes have made a big impression on the “pickup” section (the most important within the Australian market), the launch of Geely’s Radar BEV ute ought to broaden the electrification of utilities. Nationwide gross sales figures show the pickup-heavy nature of the Australian market. The highest 3 pickup fashions within the nation have been the Toyota HiLux (5,047), Ford Ranger (4,867), and Ford Everest (2,558). However, general, the Tesla Mannequin Y was the third finest promoting automobile — see stats beneath. 

The highest ten BEVs bought in Australia in September 2025 have been (blowing a fanfare of trumpets!):

1. Tesla Mannequin Y — 3,927 gross sales (yr so far — 17,237)
2. BYD Sealion 7 — 1,887 (YTD — 8,483)
3. Tesla Mannequin 3 — 736 (YTD — 5,416)
4. BYD Dolphin — 523 (YTD — 2,569)
5. BYD Seal — 450 (YTD — 2,955)
6. MG S5 EV — 386 (YTD — 1,184)
7. Kia EV5 — 307 (YTD — 3,901)
8. Geely EX5 — 279 (YTD — 3,015)
9. Kia EV3 — 241 (YTD — 1,940)
10. Volkswagen ID.4 — 177 (YTD — 729)

Australia’s prime ten is wanting increasingly more like China’s prime ten, dominated by BYD and Tesla, with one South Korean make and one European one. The Tesla Mannequin Y has made a big bounce again up the charts, after promoting solely 555 items in July. Will the cheaper mannequin be launched in Australia? What in regards to the Mannequin Y L? Will or not it’s bought right here? Solely time will inform. I don’t assume Aussies care about Elon’s politics. They simply need an distinctive product. It’s apparent that after utes, Aussies love their giant SUVs.

Although we’re seeing Xpeng fashions driving on Queensland roads, the corporate has nonetheless launched no gross sales figures. Yahoo Information stories that Xpeng was planning to import at the least a thousand new automobiles a month in August and September. It could be nice to get their gross sales figures, particularly as it could transfer the share penetration of plugins nearer to the magical 20% marker.

In comparison with September 2024, PHEV gross sales grew by over 80%, whereas plugless hybrid (HEV) gross sales elevated by about 9%, led by Toyota’s RAV4 HEV.

Though the FUD continues, and has admittedly slowed down the adoption of electrical automobiles, it’s being answered increasingly more clearly as time passes and the fearmongers are proven to be fallacious. The FUD arguments age in addition to milk within the schoolyard solar (ah, reminiscences from childhood). Watch this humorous takedown of Jeremy Clarkson’s objections to EVs.

New fashions coming, other than the BYD Atto 1, will embrace an all-electric van from Kia and yet one more SUV land yacht from Chery (the Jaeco J5). Leapmotor will launch the B10, anticipated to be Australia’s least expensive SUV. Hopefully Leapmotor can have extra success with this mannequin. The corporate’s earlier launch, utilizing a helicopter no much less, has bought solely 452 items yr so far, regardless of being an important automobile. You possibly can learn our evaluation right here.

Throughout September (whereas I used to be admiring the construct out of the high-speed chargers in China), Skoda launched the refreshed Enyaq and Tesla launched the Mannequin 3 Lengthy Vary (rear wheel drive). It has an enormous WLTP vary determine of 750 km. Due to James at EVDB for this further information. EVDB has a dataset of the 228 BEV variants obtainable in Australia. Value a glance right here.

With only some months to go until the end-of-year push, I now count on Australia won’t simply preserve 15% plugin automobile penetration, however will present some enhance in 2025. All I need for Christmas is a determine of 20%. That could be asking an excessive amount of. Nonetheless, the long run continues to be brilliant and electrical Down Below.