Electric vehicles accounted for 16.4 per cent of Australian new-vehicle sales in April 2026, equal to about one in six new vehicles, as BYD climbed to second place in the monthly brand rankings.

Across FCAI VFACTS and Electric Vehicle Council reporting, 94,049 new vehicles were sold during the month, up 3.0 per cent on April 2025.

The FCAI’s published VFACTS total was 92,591 vehicles.
Tesla and Polestar, which report separately through the Electric Vehicle Council, recorded 1458 deliveries.

Battery-electric vehicle deliveries totalled 15,459 for the month, up from 6010 in April 2025.

The Toyota RAV4 was the top-selling vehicle in the VFACTS model chart, with 3729 sales.

The fuel-type figures show a market shift beyond battery-electric vehicles, with conventional hybrids and plug-in hybrids also rising sharply.

Petrol and diesel vehicles both declined compared with April 2025, although the FCAI fuel-type data excludes heavy commercial vehicles.

FCAI Chief Executive, Tony Weber, linked the result to supply, fuel prices and policy settings.

“The increase in supply of EVs since the introduction of the New Vehicle Efficiency Scheme, combined with higher petrol prices and the continued support provided through the Federal Government’s Electric Car Discount, is now translating into stronger demand,” Mr Weber said.

Mr Weber said the continuation of the Electric Car Discount would help sustain momentum.

“There are around 110 EV models available to Australians, and the supply of EVs continues to increase.

The Electric Car Discount has provided important stimulus to the market, and its continuation will support the growth of EVs,” Mr Weber said.

He also said charging investment would need to keep pace with uptake.

“Stronger EV uptake is driving increased demand for public charging, and that demand must be matched by a step change in both public and private investment to ensure infrastructure keeps pace.”

Toyota remained the top-selling brand in the FCAI figures with 15,185 sales, despite being down 21.6 per cent compared with April 2025.

BYD ranked second with 7702 sales, up 140.2 per cent year-on-year, ahead of Kia on 6450, Hyundai on 6002, Ford on 5748 and Mazda on 5636.

GWM, Chery, MG and Isuzu Ute completed the top 10.

Chinese-manufactured vehicles accounted for around 30 per cent of FCAI-reported sales during April, according to the industry body.

The top 10 brand list included four Chinese-owned or Chinese-market-focused brands in BYD, GWM, Chery and MG.

The Toyota RAV4 led the model chart with 3729 sales, narrowly ahead of the Ford Ranger on 3661.

The Toyota HiLux followed with 2835 sales, then the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro with 2379 and the Hyundai Kona with 2158.

The BYD Sealion 7 was the highest-ranked battery-electric model, recording 1780 sales.

SUVs continued to dominate the Australian market, with 61,191 VFACTS sales in April and a 66.1 per cent share of FCAI-reported volume.

Passenger cars fell 12.5 per cent to 11,005 sales, while light commercials fell 14.8 per cent to 17,408.

The medium SUV segment was the largest single segment, with 27,395 sales and growth of 35.5 per cent year-on-year.

Private buyers accounted for 47,850 FCAI-reported sales across passenger cars, SUVs and light commercials, up 7.4 per cent compared with April 2025.

Business sales rose 2.2 per cent to 34,898, while government and rental sales declined.

The FCAI cautions that VFACTS data is preliminary and can include vehicles bought by dealers or distributors, not just retail customer deliveries.

Even with that caveat, April’s figures show the strongest part of the market was electrified vehicle demand, while several long-established petrol and diesel segments continued to soften.

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