VFACTS December 2025: Strong finish for another record year of new vehicle sales – CarExpert
Strong fleet sales helped boost the market in the last month of 2025, though market leader Toyota was down slightly.
William Stopford
News Editor
William Stopford
News Editor
A record year for new-vehicle sales in Australia had a strong finish in December, despite a drop from the same month in the previous year.
A total of 101,513 new vehicles were delivered in December 2025, according to sales figures published by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) and the Electric Vehicle Council, up 1.9 per cent on December 2024’s result.
While the new-vehicle market reached a record high in 2025, overall sales growth was just 0.3 per cent year-on-year.
You can view our full 2025 sales breakdown here.
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Much of the growth for the month came from business sales, which were up 10.6 per cent year-on-year and helped offset declines in rental and government sales.
Private sales were up, but more modestly at 1.6 per cent. Note that these percentage changes don’t include Tesla and Polestar sales.
We’ve collated the separate figures reported by the FCAI and EVC below.
Market leader Toyota was down slightly in 2025, with a 0.6 per cent decline.
Ford and Mazda were up 2.8 and 4.2 per cent, respectively, though overall for the year they were down by a respective 5.8 and 4.2 per cent.
BYD stormed up the sales charts in December on the back of a huge month for the Sealion 7 electric SUV, with 6743 deliveries – up 238.3 per cent year-on-year. Overall, it finished eighth overall for the calendar year.
Echoing full-year results, Kia was ahead of sister brand Hyundai, with the top 10 rounded out by GWM, Mitsubishi, Chery and Isuzu Ute.
It was a big month for Chery with deliveries up 96 per cent year over year, though it wasn’t enough to earn it a top 10 spot for the year.
While Tesla was down 28.1 per cent year-on-year, it still finished ahead of MG which had a larger 41.9 per cent decline.
The Toyota RAV4 was the top seller for the month but not the year, with 6038 deliveries, up 18 per cent year-on-year despite a new generation being just around the corner.
The podium was rounded out by the Ford Ranger, which was the best-selling vehicle overall in 2025, and the Toyota HiLux.
The BYD Sealion 7 was less than a hundred units behind the HiLux, with an exceptionally strong finish for its first year on the market that saw it outsell every other mid-size SUV (bar the RAV4) including the Tesla Model Y and Mitsubishi Outlander.
BYD’s Shark 6 ute also managed to outsell the Mitsubishi Triton by 52 units despite being available in a single plug-in hybrid variant, though it wasn’t enough to see it outsell the diesel ute for the entire calendar year. It was close though, with 18,073 Shark 6 sales versus 18,900 for the Triton.
The GWM Haval Jolion was the best-selling small SUV in December, with its 2062 deliveries putting it ahead of the Hyundai Kona (1733). However, the Kona beat it overall for the year (22,769 deliveries vs 19,413).
The Toyota Prado sat in 21st position for the month, with the rival Ford Everest trouncing it. Toyota delivered 1327 examples, down 50.6 per cent year-on-year, while Ford delivered 2149 Everests, a smaller 13.2 per cent reduction.
Toyota had the only passenger car in the top 20 with its evergreen Corolla. It was a long way down to the next top-selling passenger cars, the Mazda 3 (34th position, 807 deliveries) and Kia K4 (35th, 684 deliveries).
Below is a breakdown of the top-selling vehicles per segment.
Includes Tesla and Polestar sales.
Includes Tesla and Polestar sales.
Excludes Tesla and Polestar sales.
Excludes Tesla, Polestar and heavy commercial sales.
Excludes heavy commercial sales.
Includes Tesla and Polestar sales.
MORE: VFACTS 2025: Another record year for new vehicle sales in Australia, but growth modest overall
William Stopford is an automotive journalist with a passion for mainstream cars, automotive history and overseas auto markets.
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