BYD Australia confident of a top three sales spot 

BYD says it remains on track to finish among Australia's top three best-selling car brands in 2026, with updated volume models and at least one new commercial vehicle expected before the end of the year. But can BYD knock Toyota off its perch in Australia by 2030? 

Despite its rapid sales growth, BYD Australia says there's still more to come, with refreshed volume models and an expanded lineup expected to strengthen its push up the sales charts in Australia.

The burning question, however, is whether the brand can fulfil global CEO’s bold prediction that the company will topple Toyota as the world’s top-selling carmaker by 2030 – and by extension, dethrone Toyota in Australia as well.

"Stephen Collins has said that at the end of this year, we'd be disappointed if we weren't in and around the top three," BYD Australia PR director Paul Ellis told carsales.

"That still holds true. We've been number two for the last three months... where it pans out the rest of the year, not too sure.

"But we think with the product lineup we've got, and with the supply that's come out of the factory, the commitment, we should be pretty well placed to hold our own for the rest of the year."

BYD's Australian sales have climbed 120.1 per cent this year, with the brand finishing second outright behind Toyota in both April, May and June.

Ellis believes the current model range already has the fundamentals in place, with upcoming updates providing the next step in BYD's growth.

"I think the range is good enough," he said.

"We're going to introduce a couple of new models [this year] that will have volume implication. So Atto 3 and Atto 2 are due for upgrades. That will have positive impacts on volume."

Beyond those high-volume models, Ellis also confirmed more niche additions are due before the end of 2026. 

"It might be a commercial vehicle or something like that."

When asked directly whether that meant a van was coming, Ellis declined to elaborate but offered one final clue.

"[Niche models not yet announced] will be here by the end of this year. It might be a commercial vehicle," was all he would add.

The BYD V9 electric van, an almost seven-metre-long goliath, is the likely contender. The rear-drive commercial vehicle is expected to get an 88kWh battery pack and feature V2L functionality.

At BYD's annual shareholder meeting in Shenzhen, global chairman and president Wang Chuanfu told investors the company aims to become the world's largest carmaker "in terms of scale" within five years, overtaking Toyota after delivering approximately 4.6 million global sales in 2025.

The company is continuing an aggressive export expansion across Europe, South America, Southeast Asia and Australia as it pursues that objective.

If BYD can maintain its current sales momentum, updated Atto models and an expanded commercial vehicle lineup should help cement a top three finish in Australia this year.

A van would also broaden BYD's local portfolio following the success of the Shark 6 ute, while supporting the company's longer-term ambition of becoming the world's biggest carmaker.

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