Chinese vehicles outsell those from Japan and Thailand combined

Vehicles sourced from China now account for almost 40 per cent of Australia's new-vehicle market, with September 2026 marking a significant milestone.

Data released this week by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) and the Electric Vehicle Council (EVC) shows Chinese-made cars outsold those from Japan and Thailand last month – combined.

After China, the highest number of new vehicles sold in Australia were sourced from Japan and Thailand, in that order – with top-sellers like the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux utes being Thai-built.

While this feat was first achieved back in June 2026, that month also saw the arrival of a dedicated ship carrying almost 5000 vehicles from BYD and Denza from China, boosting sales numbers for those brands in that period.

According to combined VFACTS and EVC sales reports for September, last month Australians bought a total of 42,045 vehicles from China, and 40,933 vehicles from Japan and Thailand.

In June, Japanese and Thai-sourced vehicles totalled 50,395 sales, compared to 55,331 for vehicles from China.

It’s worth noting we've excluded the Tesla Model Y Performance and Polestar 3 electric SUVs from these figures, given these models can be sourced from Germany or the US.

New cars manufactured in China – which now include those from established brands like Mazda, Hyundai, Kia, BMW, Mini and, soon, Nissan and Ford – now account for 38.9 per cent of the Australian new-car market.

South Korea and Germany round out the top five countries of origin, with 9892 and 4309 sales – down 5.0 and 1.7 per cent – respectively.

As we reported earlier this week, September sales increased by 1.8 per cent compared with the same month last year, with electric vehicle sales jumping by 117.7 per cent. Meanwhile, sales of petrol vehicles declined by 36.2 per cent, and diesel vehicle deliveries were down 18.4 per cent.

MORE: EVs beat petrol, diesel models once again in new-vehicle sales