The Australian Automotive Dealer Association (AADA) projects that Chinese-made vehicles will comprise 58% of Australia’s new car market by 2035, amounting to nearly 900,000 vehicles annually. This forecast follows June figures showing a 35.5% share for China-made models, marking the country’s emergence as the largest source of new vehicles in Australia.
AADA CEO James Voortman noted that the transition toward electric and China-produced vehicles is accelerating more rapidly than earlier estimates. A previous forecast by the Australian Centre for International Economics had predicted a 43% share for Chinese brands by 2035. June registrations data show Australia purchased 46,592 China-made vehicles, compared with 27,098 from Japan (20.7%), 23,297 from Thailand, 14,863 from South Korea and 5,731 from Germany.
In brand rankings for June, Toyota remained Australia’s top seller with 19,124 vehicles, closely followed by BYD at 18,881 units. Chinese automakers Great Wall Motors and Chery secured eighth and ninth places, respectively. The AADA expects the number of brands competing in the Australian market to rise from 67 today to 75 by 2031, driven by recent entries—ten new brands since 2010, nine of which manufacture in China.
Electric vehicle adoption is also gaining momentum. Registrations of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in the first half of 2026 reached 103,843—a 119.8% increase year-on-year—representing 16.4% of the new car market, up from 7.6% during the same period in 2025. BYD led BEV sales with 29,192 units (up 241.2%), followed by Tesla with 23,588 deliveries (up 66.7%), giving BYD a 28.1% share of the BEV segment and Tesla 22.3%. Geely, Kia and Chery-owned Jaecoo rounded out the top five brands. The Tesla Model Y remained the best-selling BEV model with 20,396 deliveries, ahead of the BYD Sealion 7 (12,516) and the Geely EX5 (6,756).
June BEV sales totaled 32,570, accounting for 23.3% of new vehicle registrations, with approximately 80% of those vehicles manufactured in China. Chinese automakers continue to expand their Australian lineups, with Xpeng announcing plans to introduce five new models locally within six months.
In June 2026, China’s vehicle exports surpassed one million units for the first time, including 523,000 new energy vehicles. As Australia relies entirely on imports for passenger cars, the growing presence of Chinese manufacturers reflects both their global expansion and shifting consumer preferences toward electrification. AADA describes this evolution as one of the most significant transformations in Australia’s automotive history.
Source: CarNewsChina
