‘We want to make it an Australian brand’: BYD eyes local status after 155% sales surge

Australia’s new vehicle market is telling what is now becoming a familiar story: overall sales are down, but electrified brands are charging ahead.

New VFACTS data shows Australians purchased 100,206 new vehicles in May, down 4.8% on the same month last year.

But beneath the headline decline, the shift away from petrol and diesel vehicles is accelerating.

Battery electric vehicles accounted for a record 20% of all new vehicle sales from all sources during May, the highest monthly share recorded to date.

Electrified vehicles more broadly, including battery electric vehicles, conventional hybrids and plug-in hybrids, accounted for 46% of all new vehicle sales during the month.

SEE MORE: BYD CMO Kate Hornstein on the brand's rapid rise

BYD was the standout growth story, increasing sales by 155% compared with May 2025 and finishing as Australia’s second-largest brand for the month with 8,211 sales.

Toyota remained market leader with 16,342 sales, followed by BYD, Ford on 7,195, Hyundai on 7,007 and Kia on 6,761.

Other emerging brands also posted sharp growth. Omoda Jaecoo recorded growth of 729%, while Geely increased sales by 416%.

The figures landed just days after BYD marked a major milestone at the Port of Melbourne, where its car-carrying vessel BYD Zhengzhou arrived in Australia carrying 4,809 hybrid and electric vehicles bound for local driveways.

Stephen Collins, chief operating officer of BYD Australia, said the arrival showed how quickly the brand had scaled since launching passenger vehicles locally in 2022.

“Who would have thought that in less than four years BYD would be so universally embraced by Australian consumers,” Collins said.

“All of you know BYD as a car maker, but really that’s only part of the BYD story. BYD is first and foremost a technology company.”

Collins said BYD’s broader expertise spans solar power, energy storage systems, clean energy charging infrastructure and rail, positioning the company around a wider clean energy ecosystem rather than vehicles alone.

“Our growth has been meteoric to say the least. As a business, we’re growing fast. But the true measure of our success is the experience our customers expect from a big brand.”

Collins said demand had been driven by rising fuel prices and consumer appetite for affordable, low-emission vehicles. In March, BYD recorded a threefold increase in orders, prompting the business to secure major production increases.

He said the company had committed to filling those orders within three months, with the arrival of the BYD Zhengzhou helping deliver vehicles that had largely been sold around 10 weeks earlier.

The vessel had previously been used for European and South American markets, with its arrival in Melbourne marking the first time one of BYD’s car-carrying ships had delivered passenger vehicles to Australia.

BYD’s Australian journey began before the current passenger vehicle boom. Collins said the brand first entered the local market in 2014 through electric buses at Sydney Airport, before launching new energy passenger vehicles in Australia in 2022.

Since then, around 120,000 Australians have taken delivery of a BYD vehicle. The company is now expanding further with luxury brand Denza.

Liu Xueliang, group vice president of BYD and general manager of BYD Asia Pacific, described Australia as a "vital" market for the company’s future.

“We want to make it an Australian brand,” Liu said.

FCAI chief executive Tony Weber said the May VFACTS results show how quickly Australian consumers are adopting lower-emission technologies.

“The shift is particularly evident in the SUV segment, where consumer preferences are changing rapidly. Today’s SUV buyer is increasingly choosing hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric options,” Weber said.

In the SUV segment, EV sales were up 167% compared with May 2025, while plug-in hybrids increased 377%.

Petrol SUV sales fell 31% and diesel SUV sales dropped 41% over the same period.

The figures point to a market being reshaped by new vehicle efficiency rules, changing consumer demand and growing competition from newer entrants, particularly in electrified SUV categories.

Weber said the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard is encouraging manufacturers to bring more low-emission vehicles to Australia, giving consumers more choice across drivetrains.

“The evidence increasingly demonstrates that NVES is encouraging manufacturers to bring more low emissions vehicles to Australia, increasing both consumer choice and technology availability,” he said.

However, rapid EV growth is increasing pressure on Australia’s charging infrastructure.

“As the number of EVs on the road continues to grow, charging infrastructure must become more of a priority. Continued investment and enabling policy settings will be essential to ensure infrastructure keeps pace with consumer adoption,” Weber said.

“Charging infrastructure rollout must accelerate if Australia is to maintain consumer confidence and support continued uptake.”

The May data will likely add pressure on legacy automotive brands as newer electrified players build momentum with Australian consumers.

BYD's growth is also a start reminder about how quickly brand consideration, category expectations and competitive dynamics are changing in one of Australia’s most heavily advertised consumer markets.