Chinese cars have become the largest source of new cars in the Australian market for the first time. In February 2026, 22,362 Chinese-made cars were sold in the country, allowing China to overtake Japan, which had held the lead since 1998.
According to the market data, Japanese cars ranked second with 21,671 cars sold. Cars from Thailand came in third with 19,493 units. South Korea took fourth place with 11,913 cars.
Sales of Chinese-assembled cars increased by 50.5% year-on-year. At the same time, car deliveries from Japan decreased by 31.3%, and South Korean models by 2.9%. The statistics include cars of foreign brands manufactured in Chinese factories, including Tesla and Kia models.
Chinese brands are also strengthening their positions among the most popular brands in Australia. Currently, four of the ten best-selling brands in the country are of Chinese origin.
The leader among them is BYD. In February, the brand sold 5,323 cars, which is 62.2% more than a year earlier. The brand's market share was 5.9%, which allowed it to approach Hyundai with a result of 6,266 cars.
The second largest Chinese brand is GWM (Great Wall Motor). Since the beginning of the year, the company has sold 9,198 cars, including 4,689 cars in February. This secured the brand a market share of 5.2% and allowed it to overtake Mitsubishi, taking seventh place in popularity.
Chery and MG are also among the top ten brands. Chery ranks ninth with 7,718 cars sold since the beginning of the year, 3,938 of them in February. The brand's sales increased by 93.2% compared to last year. MG took tenth position with 6,377 cars sold in January and February.
The best-selling model in the Australian market remains the Ford Ranger pickup truck - 4,325 cars were sold in February. Toyota Hilux is in second place. The Chery Tiggo 4 Pro crossover took third position with 2,315 cars sold.
Toyota RAV4 sales in February were significantly lower than usual - 723 cars. However, the 83.6% drop is not due to a decrease in demand, but to a reduction in stocks of the current generation of cars before the release of the new version of the model.