VFACTS August 2026: EVs outsell every other fuel type for the first time as the Model Y hunts the Ranger

Key takeaways

• Battery EVs hit a record 24.9% share and outsold every other powertrain for the first time
• Tesla Model Y back on top with 6,414 sales as Tesla climbed to third overall
• The Ford Ranger's year-to-date lead is down to 1,342 sales over the Model Y

Australia bought more battery-electric vehicles than petrol, diesel, hybrid or plug-in hybrid vehicles in August 2026. It is the first time any electric powertrain has led the market outright, and it happened in a month that was otherwise unremarkable for volume.

A total of 108,760 new vehicles were reported as sold across all sources, up 4.9% year-on-year. VFACTS on its own recorded 100,939 sales, up 0.4%, with the difference made up by Tesla and Polestar reporting through the Electric Vehicle Council rather than the FCAI. Year-to-date, 848,920 vehicles have been delivered.

Of that August total, 27,089 were battery-electric. That is 24.9% of the market and a 171% increase on August 2025. Petrol accounted for 25,824 sales, diesel 23,608, hybrids 18,662 and plug-in hybrids 10,591. Add the three electrified categories together and they made up 51.8% of everything sold. Reporting sources put the BEV figure at between 27,028 and 27,089 depending on how Tesla and Polestar volumes are folded in, though every version of the number clears petrol comfortably.

Toyota RAV4 PHEV

VFACTS August 2026 top 10 brands

Toyota held the lead on 19,712, down 5.2%, and still more than double BYD.

BYD took second for the fifth month running on 8,231.

Tesla was the story of the month, up 162.6% to 7,685 and third overall, its best brand result in Australia. Kia and Mazda were both down again, and Ford fell to eighth on 4,816, a 39.8% drop.

Geely's 4,504 sales put it 10th and pushed Chery out of the top 10 for the first time since the Chinese brand arrived in volume. Chery finished 11th on 4,238, up 28.2%, so the demotion says more about Geely than about Chery. Five Chinese brands now sit inside the top 10, and every one of them grew year-on-year.

Every non-Chinese brand in the top 10, apart from Tesla, went backwards.

Mitsubishi's fall was the sharpest, down 42.6% to 2,612 and out of the top 10 while it waits on the new Pajero, revealed this week and due before the end of the year.

Geely Starray EM-i

Top 10 models in August 2026

The Model Y topped the market for the third time this year on 6,414, its second-best month behind June's 8,072. The Model 3 added 1,271 for its strongest month since December 2024.

The RAV4 followed on 5,470, with the mix running roughly 30% plug-in hybrid and 70% conventional hybrid, a shift back towards the plug-less car after July's 40% PHEV split.

The Ranger's 2,440 needs an asterisk. Some utes were held under a temporary delivery and demonstration hold during the month over a side curtain airbag concern, with a remedy expected from mid-September. The 50.6% drop is a supply story, not a demand one, but the year-to-date damage is real.

Two more things worth noting from the model table. The Geely EX2 landed 1,279 sales in what is effectively its first full month, and the Zeekr 7X held a top 10 spot for a second month.

Ford Ranger

A note on the data

The FCAI supplied only the top 25 best-selling models this month rather than the full model-level report it has published for decades. That means the usual segment-by-segment winners cannot be verified, and year-on-year comparisons for anything outside the top 25 are not possible. We will flag it every month until the full data returns.

Where the growth came from

Private buyers took 52,916 vehicles, up 7.7%, while business fell 5.8% to 36,426 and government dropped 18.9%. The EV record is a private-buyer record.

Medium SUVs were the engine of the month at 37,328 sales, up 45.1%, which is where the Model Y, RAV4 and Sealion 7 all live. Small SUVs were flat at 17,820, large SUVs fell 9.0% and small cars fell 19.4%. The 4x4 ute segment dropped 27.1% to 13,507, its worst month in years, with the Ranger hold accounting for a good part of that.

BYD Sealion 7

China supplied 43,882 vehicles, up 88.9% and more than 40% of the market, ahead of Japan on 24,892 and Thailand on 15,658. Thailand's 24.7% fall is the ute segment showing up in the country-of-origin numbers.

New South Wales led on 30,517 sales, Victoria on 27,270, and Western Australia was again the strongest performer, up 8.7% to 11,572.

FCAI chief executive Tony Weber said the results pointed to a structural shift in the market, with consumer choice and competition reshaping brand preferences faster than expected. He repeated the industry's call on charging capacity, saying "accessible and dependable charging will remain critical to consumer confidence", particularly on highways, in regional areas and for buyers without off-street parking.

Why Australia's best-selling car in 2026 might be an EV

Last month we said August would show whether one in five buyers chose an EV because of pump prices or because they had changed their minds. August did not settle it, because the fuel-excise discount ended in July and petrol got dearer, not cheaper. The pressure that drove the surge is still there.

What August did settle is the shape of the race for the year.

The Ranger leads on 32,796, the HiLux is 635 behind on 32,161, and the Model Y is 1,342 back on 31,454. The Ranger has four months to recover from a delivery hold that cost it roughly 2,500 sales in a single month. The Model Y has four months including a December quarter-end, and it has now posted 8,072, 4,644 and 6,414 across its last three months.

To take the crown, the Model Y only needs to beat the Ranger by an average of 336 sales a month from here. It beat it by 3,974 in August alone. The Ranger needs its remedy to land early in September and its usual run-out volume to hold. The HiLux, quietly, is the one nobody is watching.

The RAV4 sits fourth on 26,585 and needs 3,354 a month to reach Toyota's stated 40,000 target, which it has beaten in every month since April. The target is safe. The crown is not the RAV4's to win.

September brings the Ranger remedy, the Pajero's local arrival and the first month in a while where fuel prices are not doing the EV segment any favours. If EV share holds near a quarter of the market without that push, the argument that this is a temporary spike is finished.

Frequently asked questions

What was Australia's best-selling car in August 2026?

The Tesla Model Y, with 6,414 sales. It was the third time the Model Y has topped the Australian market this year, and its second-strongest month behind June's 8,072.

Did electric vehicles outsell petrol cars in August 2026?

Yes. Battery-electric vehicles recorded 27,089 sales against 25,824 petrol and 23,608 diesel, taking a record 24.9% market share. It is the first time any single electric powertrain has outsold every other fuel type in Australia.

Which car is leading the 2026 sales race in Australia?

The Ford Ranger leads on 32,796 sales to the end of August, ahead of the Toyota HiLux on 32,161 and the Tesla Model Y on 31,454. The Ranger's August result was affected by a temporary delivery hold.