The first six months are in the books. Time to count the bodies, or rather, the unit sales. We’re looking at 60-some auto brands fighting for shelf space down under.
We skipped the exotic low-volumers like Lamborghini. And we left out brands that stopped selling new cars, like Jaguar. Deepal? Zeekr? GMC? Too new to draw meaningful conclusions, so they didn’t make the cut. Mahindra and GAC report to different gods, so they stay out of this VFACTS data.
What we got is a clear split. Some brands are screaming toward the stars. Others are drowning. We compared H1 2026 against H1 2025.
Here’s who won. And who didn’t.
The Rise
Leapmotor leads the pack on percentage growth.
A staggering 152.1% jump. But pause for a second. Last year at this time? Barely anything sold. They started delivering in December 2024. Just one model. The C10 SUV.
This year they moved 779 units. It looks like a landslide. In reality? It’s still tiny. Geely moved over 10,000 in that same period. The new B10 small SUV is doing the heavy lifting here, outselling the C10 two to one. A hatchback called the B05 hits August. Will it matter? Maybe.
“Sales are up, but the base is still shaky.”
BYD isn’t just growing. It’s taking over.
Up 124% year-on-year to hit 52,333 units. For three months straight, this Chinese brand was the second-biggest seller in Australia. Only the Shark 6 ute stumbled, dropping nearly 9%. Everything else went hard. The Sealion 7? Absolute beast. 12,516 sold. A 233% surge.
The Atto 3, Sealion 8, and Sealion 6 are locked in a tight battle for second, third, and fourth. BYD doesn’t care about the market. They are reshaping it.
Chery proves cannibalization isn’t inevitable.
Launched the Omoda/Jaecoo brands. Still sold 24,969 Cherys. That’s up 77%. The Tiggo 4 is their cash cow, moving 13,639 units. Up 71%. The mid-size Tiggo 7 exploded, up over 170%. Even the flagship Tiggo 9 moved nearly a thousand. Only the smaller C5/E5 combo took a slight hit. Smart play.
Tesla capitalized on the EV hunger and petrol price anxiety.
Up 66% to 23,597 cars. The Model Y is a machine. 20,406 deliveries. Up 96%. It outsold almost anything else in May and June. Even beat its own Model 3 slump, which dipped 14%.
You think the Model 3 is done? It still sold over 3,000 units. But the Y is carrying the ship. It’s Australia’s best-selling electric vehicle. Period.
GWM grew across the board.
Up 20% to 30,032 units. Double-digit gains for nearly everything. Except the Tank 500, which took a hit while GWM shifted gears toward diesel.
The Haval Jolion leads with 11,507 units. Still trails the Tiggo 4, but it’s close. The mid-size H6 is the second pillar. GWM isn’t flashy, but it’s everywhere.
The Fall
Jeep is dying on its feet.
Sales crashed 66% in the first half. June saw just 28 deliveries. Twenty-eight.
Stock of Grand Cherokees? Gone. Compass? Dead in Australia. The electric Avenger is a flop with 43 units sold. The Wrangler keeps it breathing, accounting for half their total sales. But even that is down. Jeep hopes Dongfeng saves them with some Chinese-backed models. Time will tell.
Peugeot isn’t officially out of the game, but Inchcape sure seems to have walked away.
Down 41%. Just 429 units delivered. Every single model tanked, except the new 5008. Which only moved 28 units. That’s not a rebound. That’s a ripple.
They even sold one 208 by accident? Or maybe design. Who knows. Stellantis will likely pick up the baton, but the French spirit in Australia is fading fast.
Maserati is luxury’s little brother, and nobody wants to share the spotlight.
Down 33% to just 101 units. The Grecale is trying. It beats the Stelvio platform-mates, but against a Genesis GV70? Not a chance. Just 99 Grecales sold. Down a quarter.
Without the Ghibli or Levante, Maserati has very few legs to stand on. They sell sports cars to rich enthusiasts who buy once and wait ten years. That doesn’t build volume.
Nissan is red everywhere.
Dropped out of the top ten. Total sales fell to 13,729 units. A sea of declines.
The X-Trail holds 55% of their volume but still fell 13%. The Patrol is tanking, down almost 25%, waiting for a refresh. They killed the Juke, the Pathfinder, and scrapped the new Leaf plan. The Navara? Built on Mitsubishi metal. Down 47%.
Mitsubishi isn’t doing much better either. Down 26%, though their Triton sells four times more than Nissan’s equivalent ute.
Toyota? Down 21%. Subaru down 26%. Suzuki down 21%. Even the kings of this market are feeling the pressure. Why? The Chinese invasion, mostly. The shift to hybrids.
Cupra tries to be different, but no one is biting.
Down 32% to 1,114 units. The Formentor, their biggest seller, dropped over 60%. They pushed the new Tavascan and the huge Terramar SUV into the mix. The Terramar actually rose over 500%, but it only moved 254 units.
That’s growth? From a base of near-zero, sure. It doesn’t make you popular. It just means people are curious about your new truck.
