VFACTS: Chinese brands help deliver strongest July on record

PHEV popularity continues to surge as Hilux and RAV4 take top honours for the month

The Australian new car market just posted its best July on record with 103,097 showroom-fresh vehicles delivered, thanks in part to a rampant surge in the popularity of Chinese vehicles.

According to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries’ latest round of VFacts data – which doesn’t include EV specialists Tesla, Polestar or XPeng – sales of Chinese vehicles were up 53 per cent last month compared to in July 2024, though their yearly tally is ‘only’ up a far steadier 11.4 %.

Despite the impressive monthly gains however, only one of top 10 best-selling models in July was from China, and surprisingly, it wasn’t the BYD Shark 6.

Instead, it was the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro which netted seventh place with 2065 new registrations; enough to see it best every single one of its direct rivals, including the segment-leading Hyundai Kona which finished July in 10th place with 1903 sales for the month.

The Kona is admittedly still ahead on yearly totals (13,144 vs 10,061) but there’s absolutely no denying Chinese players are making an increasingly big splash and accounting for more and more of the market, despite the social media vitriol that often accompanies them.

But what of the other heavy hitters?

Well, the Toyota Hilux (4676) got a leg back over the Ford Ranger (3930) to take top honours and it took the ever-present RAV4 (4415) medium SUV with it to kick the Ranger down to third ahead of its Everest (2425) SUV sibling.

Fifth place went to the Isuzu D-Max (2351) which only narrowly edged out the Toyota Prado (2339), behind which came the Tiggo 4 Pro (2065), Toyota Corolla (1963), Hyundai Tucson (1914) and Kona (1903) in that order.

The Chinese influx was better reflected on the top 10 brands chart, with GWM (4721) and BYD (4607) occupying seventh and eighth respectively, mixing it with the likes of Mitsubishi (4983), Isuzu (3986) and Subaru (3264).

Toyota predictably maintained its stranglehold at the top of the new car sales chart with 21,722 sales for the month; way ahead of Mazda (7452), Kia (7402), Ford (7279) and Hyundai (6687).

Just as unsurprisingly, SUVs continue to dominate the market with 63,079 of the 103,097 new vehicles sold last month being high-riders and indeed the only vehicle class to be up in the first seven months of the year (+5%); passenger car sales are down 26.8% so far this year while light commercials – mainly utes – are down a marginal 1.6%.

As for the fuel types, petrol is still king (39,991) but took a 4.8% hit last month whereas diesel sales were up eight per cent to 31,611.

EVs had a good month in July with a 50 per cent upswing compared to last year (6072 vs 4048) but are still ultimately down 30.2 per cent – reminder: Tesla, Polestar and XPeng don’t submit their sales data to VFacts. We'll have a follow-up story covering those brands.

Hybrid sales were down slightly (1.6%) last month but are still up 11.9 per cent year to date while plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) continue to surge in popularity despite not being eligible for the FBT exemption, with 4031 new examples delivered – up 81.7 per cent for the month and a whopping 183% so far this year.

“With more than 50 models available in 2025, plug-in hybrids have emerged as an important transition technology for many Australians, particularly those in regional areas or those with limited access to charging,” FCAI CEO Tony Weber said.

Best-selling models of July 2025
1. Toyota Hilux – 4676
2. Toyota RAV4 – 4415
3. Ford Ranger – 3930
4. Ford Everest – 2425
5. Isuzu D-Max – 2351
6. Toyota Prado 2339
7. Chery Tiggo 4 Pro – 2065
8. Toyota Corolla – 1963
9. Hyundai Tucson – 1914
10. Hyundai Kona – 1903

Best-selling brands of July 2025
1. Toyota – 21,722
2. Mazda – 7452
3. Kia – 7402
4. Ford – 7279
5. Hyundai – 6687
6. Mitsubishi – 4983
7. GWM – 4721
8. BYD – 4607
9. Isuzu – 3986
10. Subaru – 3264