VFACTS September: Toyota RAV4 and Tesla Model Y chase Ranger home

Normal service has resumed. The Ford Ranger is back as Australia's best-selling new vehicle in September 2026, a month after the HiLux knocked it off its perch.

The Toyota RAV4 snuck into second, and the Tesla Model Y pipped the Toyota HiLux for third by just 23 sales.

Behind the podium, the bigger story is electrification. Once Tesla and Polestar are added in, more than 49 per cent of all new vehicles sold last month had a plug or a hybrid system.

Remember August 2026, when the HiLux finally gave the Ranger a bloody nose, 4282 to 2271? That was largely down to a delivery and demonstrator hold on some Ranger Double Cab variants tied to an airbag recall.

September shows what happens when the bottleneck is cleared.

Combined 4x2 and 4x4 Ranger sales hit 5062, up 4.0%. HiLux sales fell 11.8% to 4453, dragged down by a 45.1% drop in 4x2 sales (480).

The Ranger's year-to-date lead over the HiLux has roughly doubled, from 635 units at the end of August to 1242 (37,858 versus 36,616).

However, the broader 4x4 ute segment is still in the doldrums, down 13.1% for the month and 13.6% for the year, and light commercial share has slid from 23.3% to 20% in 12 months.

With a number of affordable Chinese PHEV utes coming from brands like Chery and GWM, the ute segment may experience one of the biggest disruptions in years.

Overall, VFACTS reported 102,924 sales in September, up 0.9%.

Year to date the market is flat at 914,312, just 127 units behind 2025.

Over to SUVs, the family favourite, and the RAV4 is now firing as well. Toyota's mid-size SUV almost doubled its September 2025 result, with 4624 sales up 81%, as supply constraints ease.

Even so, it's still down 11.1% on 2025 year to date (31,209), so Toyota has some catching up to do.

Then there's Tesla, which doesn't report through VFACTS. According to figures published by the EVC, Tesla delivered 5654 vehicles in September, up 21.3% year on year.

That's enough to make it Australia's sixth best-selling brand for the month, just 48 units shy of Mazda and comfortably ahead of GWM and Hyundai.

The Model Y accounted for 4476 of those deliveries, up 14%, and the long-wheelbase Model Y L is doing a lot of the heavy lifting.

September's 1764 Model Y Ls made up roughly 39% of the month's Model Y deliveries but over the past three months, the L has made up almost half (47.8%) of all Model Y sales, so nearly every second one leaving the lot has three rows.

Turns out Aussie families wanted a three-row Tesla after all, and that's a direct shot across the bows of the Kluger, Sorento and Santa Fe.

The Model 3 had a strong month too, up 60.1% to 1178. It was already on the rebound before Tesla announced this month that a new entry-level rear-drive variant would cut the base price by $9000.

Tesla has also beaten its entire 2025 tally with three months to spare. It sits on 41,705 deliveries year to date (up 84.1%), compared with 28,856 for all of last year.

BYD remains the clear number two brand behind Toyota. It sold 8191 vehicles in September (up 61.1%) and has 76,614 year to date, already more than double its 2025 haul at the same point.

The Sealion 7 was the fifth best-selling vehicle in the country with 2687 sales, up 42.4%. The Shark 6 ute also climbed 25.1% to 1492.

Toyota was still the top brand with 17,682 sales, but that's down 3.5% for the month and 15.9% for the year.

The Chinese brands in the top 10 tell the rest of the story.

The Chery Tiggo 4 Pro (2059), GWM Haval Jolion (2018) and Geely EX5 (2008, up 620%) all finished ahead of the Toyota Prado (2006). The Isuzu D-Max rounded out the top 10 with 1866 sales (down 6.2%), bumping the MG ZS (1805) to 11th.

Geely as a brand posted 4473 sales for the month of September, representing a whopping increase of 870.3%.

Omoda Jaecoo hit 2310 (up 344.2%) and Zeekr 2050, up from just 120 a year ago.

China-built vehicles made up 35.5% of VFACTS-reported sales (36,504, up 74.2% year on year).

Japan-built vehicles fell 13% to 23,133.

The electrified numbers are where things get interesting. VFACTS recorded 20,433 EVs (up 184.7%), 17,843 hybrids (up 20.7%) and 10,072 PHEVs (up 122.7%), which comes to 47% of the market.

Add in Tesla and Polestar and EVs alone account for 26,287 sales, or 24.2% of the 108,778 total. Electrified vehicles as a whole make up 49.8%, a whisker from tipping past half.

It will be interesting to see how sales growth will fare from April 2027 when the EV incentives are wound back somewhat.

Sales of petrol cars fell 36.2% to 26,018 and diesel dropped 18.4% to 25,173. That means an electric car now outsells a diesel in Australia, at least for a month.

It's a different story for some of the old guard. Subaru (down 42.6%), Mitsubishi (down 41.5%), Suzuki (down 39.3%), Volkswagen (down 36.9%) and Nissan (down 30%) all went backwards, most of their sales likely shifting to Chinese challenger brands.

With three months to go, the Ranger has its nose back in front of the HiLux but the Tesla Model Y is a close third. If Toyota HiLux or Tesla Model Y find another gear it could deliver an upset by year’s end.

Another question is whether electrified vehicles continue growing and how much that affects petrol and diesel sales.

Tesla's sub-$50k Model 3 is about to land, and a Polestar 4 wagon-style body is due before year's end along with many other EVs and hybrids, so the odds look good.

Top 10 best-selling cars – September 2026

Top 10 brands – September 2026
Toyota – 17,682
BYD – 8191
Ford – 7592
Kia – 5901
Mazda – 5702
Tesla – 5654
GWM – 5212
Hyundai – 5073
MG – 4635
Geely – 4473

Join the conversation at our Facebook page
Or email us at editor@carsales.com.au