Electrified vehicles overtake petrol and diesel sales
For the first time, hybrids, plug-in hybrids and EVs outsell combustion across Australia’s passenger, SUV and light-commercial marketsThe News
Something big happened in Australia’s new-car market in August 2026, and if you blinked you missed it: for the first time, petrol and diesel-powered vehicles are the underdogs.
Add up every electrified vehicle – pure EVs, conventional hybrids and plug-in hybrids – across the passenger, SUV and light-commercial segments and you land at 56,331 sales. That is from a combined base of 105,763, or a whisker over 53 per cent.
Once you fold in Tesla and Polestar, whose 7821 sales don’t show up in the standard VFACTS tally, electrons officially outnumber explosions.
The Key Details
- Electrified vehicles account for 53 per cent of the passenger, SUV and light-commercial market
- Combustion (petrol plus diesel) slips to a 46 per cent minority for the first time
- Petrol sales fall 32.6 per cent for the month and 25.7 per cent year to date
- Diesel sales drop 22.5 per cent for the month and 16.2 per cent year to date
- Plug-in hybrids surge 171.1 per cent for the month
The Finer Details
Electrified vehicles are snowballing and the flip side is a tale of two fuels in retreat.
Petrol remains the single biggest slice at 25,824 sales, but it is bleeding fast – down 32.6 per cent on August last year, and off 25.7 per cent across the year to date (243,673 versus 327,792). The SUV segment did most of the damage, shedding nearly a third for the month.
Diesel is faring only marginally better. August’s 23,608 sales were down 22.5 per cent year-on-year, with the year-to-date tally down 16.2 per cent to 207,541. Even the ute-heavy light-commercial ranks – diesel’s last stronghold – slipped 23 per cent for the month.
Between them, combustion managed just 49,432 sales – enough to lead individually, but no longer enough to hold the majority. And with plug-in hybrids up a staggering 171.1 per cent for the month, the trend line only points one way.
The Road Ahead
The heavy lifting has being done by a familiar vehicle and a wave of new challengers. The Tesla Model Y was the runaway leader on 6414 sales, up 176 per cent on last August, with big brother Model 3 adding another 1271 (up 111 per cent) sales.
But the breakout story is the Geely EX5, which rocketed 386 per cent to 1947 units, its year-to-date tally nearly quadrupling to 10,737.
BYD wasn’t far behind, its Sealion 7 mid-size SUV up 57 per cent to 2213 as the brand also unleashed the new Atto 2 (1122) and Sealion 8 (781). Even Toyota is stirring, its bZ4X EV up 281 per cent to 434 units, while the MG4 rallied to a combined 760 across its old and new Urban variants, up 631 per cent.
The message from August is blunt: the tipping point isn’t coming, it’s here.
Related: VFACTS August 2026 - national vehicle sales roundup
Related: VFACTS July 2026 - national vehicle sales roundup
Related: Can Toyota Sell 230,000 vehicles in 2026?
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