VFACTS 2025: Toyota tops record year for Aussie car sales, Ford Ranger reigns on

For the third consecutive year, a record number of new vehicles (1,241,037) were sold in Australia in 2025 with Toyota finishing atop the leader board for the 23rd year in a row. As for the individual models, the Ford Ranger continued its run as the country’s most popular individual vehicle into a third year with 56,555 new registrations.

Based on numbers supplied by both the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) and the Electric Vehicle Council (EVC), overall new vehicle sales increased from the 2024 record of 1,237,287 to 1,241,037 units in 2025, an increase of just 0.3 per cent.

December sales (101,513) were up 1.85 per cent year-on-year and pivotal to achieving the new record.

Toyota’s annual result was down fractionally (0.6%) to 239,863 from its 2024 high of 241,296 sales.

But the Japanese giant still claimed 19.3 per cent of all sales (one in every five) to more than double second placed Ford (94,399 – down 5.8%), which edged Mazda (91,923 – down 4.2%) for the second consecutive year.

Toyota had the biggest selling vehicle in six different VFACTS segments in 2025 while Ford led three.

Ford’s sales were dominated by the market-leading Ranger and its Everest SUV spin-off, which pipped the Toyota Prado by just 55 registrations (26,161 vs 26,106) to lead the sub-$80,000 large SUV segment.

Kia (82,105 – up 0.4%), Hyundai (77,208 – up 7.7%) and Mitsubishi (61,198 – down 17.%) completed the top six, with China’s GWM (52,809 – up 23.4%) and BYD (52,415 – up 156.2%), Isuzu Ute (42,297 – down 12.2%) and MG (41,298 – down 18.4%) rounding out the top 10.

Vehicles manufactured in China represented approximately 18 per cent of total new vehicle sales in 2025, up from around 14 per cent in 2024, making China Australia’s third-largest source of vehicles.

Japan remained the largest source country but when Tesla vehicles are factored in, China leapfrogged Thailand (by just under 2000 vehicles) to take second place and relegate its almost-neighbour to third, while Korea is in fourth place.

Together, these four major Asian manufacturing nations represent 80 per cent of the market.

It was a first appearance in the annual top 10 for BYD, predictably led by the Shark 6 PHEV ute.

Nissan was the brand exiting the top 10, its sales down 21.6 per cent in 2025. It finished 12th behind Subaru.

Another Chinese brand, Chery, finished 13th overall with a stunning 176.8 per cent year-on-year sales increase.

BMW was the country’s top-selling luxury marque, achieving 26,842 sales (up 1.9%) ahead of Mercedes-Benz (22,850 – up 14.3%), Audi (16,014 – up 4.4%) and Lexus (14,561 – up 6.7%).

The Ranger held on to top spot despite a 9.6 per cent decrease in sales.

There was a general downturn in the popularity of diesel-powered utes; the petrol-electric Shark 6 took chunks out of its rivals to slot into fourth in the 4x4 pick-up category with 18,073 sales despite only being offered – for now – as a single variant.

The other big ute arrival of 2025, the Kia Tasman, finished the year in 12th place, mitigated by only being on-sale for six months, but the sales average is still well short pre-launch expectations.

Behind the Ranger (56,555 sales) on the sale ladder came the Toyota RAV4 (51,947), Toyota HiLux (51,297), Isuzu D-MAX (26,839) and Ford Everest (26,161).

In terms of segment sales trends, SUVS accounted for 60.7 per cent of sales (up from 57%), light commercials 22.6 per cent (up from 22.2) and passenger vehicles 13 per cent (down from 16.7).

Plug-in hybrid vehicles recorded the strongest growth of any drivetrain in 2025, with sales more than doubling to 53,484 units, an increase of 130.9 per cent compared with 2024.

Hybrids also continued to gain momentum, with 199,133 vehicles sold, up 15.3 per cent year-on-year, reinforcing their role as the most popular lower-emissions option among Australian buyers.

Battery-electric vehicle sales totalled 103,270 units, accounting for 8.32 per cent of total new vehicle sales for the year.

That’s a sizable 13.1 per cent rise in sales from 91,292 in 2024, despite a 24.8 per cent collapse in Tesla sales. However, it remains Australia’s most popular EV brand and the Model Y the top-seller in medium SUV over $60,000 as well as the 10th most popular model outright.

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