Car sales July 2026: Old favourites strike back
Three Toyotas featured in the top 10 bestselling vehicles for July 2026 according to VFACTS figures, with the Toyota RAV4, Hilux and Prado chalking up more than 12,000 sales between them.
Toyota moved 5564 Toyota RAV4s in July 2026, a 26 per cent improvement over the same month in 2025 and more than 500 sales clear of the second-placed Toyota Hilux with 4721.
They knocked the Tesla Model Y off the top of the dais for the first time in two months, although it wasn’t far behind with 4644 sales according to the Electric Vehicle Council.
The Ford Ranger also saw a slight year-on-year improvement to record 4042 sales for the month.
While the Hyundai Kona (2096 sales) and Toyota Prado (2082) achieved top 10 positions, all of the remaining spots belonged to EVs and Chinese brands such as BYD, Geely and Zeekr.
It was a strong month for Australian car sales in general, with total of 103,656 new vehicles delivered during July 2026, a slight increase on the previous July record of 103,097 set in 2025.
According to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), “The result follows a record-ever June and marks two consecutive months where battery electric vehicles represented more than one fifth of all sales.”
Adding to the EV tally were top 10 finishers the Geely EX5 (2034 sales) and the Zeekr 7X (1892).
Top 10 best-sellers July 2026
|
Make |
Volume July 2026 |
Volume July 2025 |
|
Toyota RAV4 |
5564 |
4415 |
| Toyota Hilux |
4721 |
4676 |
| Tesla Model Y |
4644 |
555 |
|
Ford Ranger |
4042 |
3930 |
| BYD Sealion 7 |
2548 |
1427 |
|
Chery Tiggo 4 |
2156 |
2065 |
|
Hyundai Kona |
2096 |
1903 |
| Toyota Prado |
2082 |
2339 |
|
Geely EX5 |
2034 |
490 |
| Zeekr 7X |
1892 |
0 |
Toyota continues to be the nation’s most popular marque with 20,409 sales for July, well ahead of the fast-rising BYD (7857) and Ford (6553).
Among the 10 bestsellers for July, however, only Chinese brands recorded positive growth, with Kia and Hyundai remaining steady and Toyota, Ford and Mitsubishi all seeing substantial slumps compared to January-July 2025.
BYD’s growth is nothing short of phenomenal, improving from 27,962 sales January-July 2025 to 60,192 in the same period for 2026.
Zeekr demonstrated the biggest percentage uptick of all, from just 522 sales January-July 2025 to 7950 in 2026.
Geely sprang up from 2335 sales to 14,655, while Omoda Jaecoo was similarly impressive, rising from 1124 sales to 10,943.
With the resumption of full excise on August 3 nudging fuel prices above $2 per litre again, it is unlikely interest in EVs will wane anytime soon.
Top 10 bestselling marques July 2026
|
Make |
Volume |
Market share |
|
Toyota |
20,409 |
19.7% |
| BYD |
7857 |
7.6% |
| Ford |
6553 |
6.3% |
|
Kia |
6458 |
6.2% |
| Mazda |
6400 |
6.2% |
|
Hyundai |
5991 |
5.8% |
|
Tesla |
4778 |
4.7% |
| GWM |
4615 |
4.5% |
|
Chery |
4518 |
4.4% |
| Mitsubishi |
4284 |
4.1% |
