The Australian new car market of 1,241,037 units not only delivered a record sales year in 2025, but also confirmed a significant shift in the manufacturing of the vehicles Australians purchase.
The biggest change in the last decade is the rise of China as a manufacturing base for the Australian market, which is clearly visible in the annual VFACTS sales reports.
In 2015, Australia’s total market was 1,155,408 vehicles. Japan was the dominant supplier country with 335,288 deliveries (29.0 percent share), Thailand was second with 249,804 (21.6 percent) and Korea followed with 140,172 (12.1 percent).
China was a marginal supplier and ranked 21st among the countries of origin with only 2,320 deliveries or 0.2 percent of the total market. An initial surge of Chinese brands in Australia, starting with Great Wall in 2009, had largely dried up by the mid-2010s.
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But a resurgence of Chinese automakers was just around the corner and by 2024, China’s rise was already firmly established.
Thailand still held second place in 2024, but in a market with 1,237,287 units, a total of 192,839 (15.6 percent share) Chinese-built vehicles were delivered, while Thailand delivered 272,139 (22.0 percent). Japan remained number one with 378,911 (30.6 percent) and Korea recorded 157,760 (12.8 percent).
By 2025, this picture worsened dramatically and then reversed. The number of vehicles manufactured in China rose to 252,928, accounting for 20.4 percent of the total market, moving China to second place overall.
China ended 2025 with just 2,970 units ahead of Thailand, which delivered 249,958 (20.1 percent). Japan remained number one with 358,981 (28.9 percent) and Korea remained fourth with 149,966 (12.1 percent).
This figure from China was supported not only by Chinese brands such as BYD, Chery, GWM and MG, but also by companies such as Tesla (which only sells Chinese-made vehicles in Australia) and other brands such as BMW and Volvo.
The short-term movement shows how quickly the change occurred. From 2024 to 2025, deliveries in China increased by 60,089, while Thailand decreased by 22,181. In the same one-year period, the number fell by 19,930 in Japan, by 7,794 in Korea and the overall market increased by 3,750 units.
The movement from decade to decade shows how dramatic the change in China has been. Between 2015 and 2025, China recorded an increase of 250,608 annual deliveries. Thailand’s total remained essentially unchanged (up 154) over the same period, while Japan increased by 23,693 and Korea by 9,794.
The overall supply mix also concentrated, as Japan, Thailand, Korea and China combined increased from 727,584 shipments in 2015 (63.0 percent of the total market) to 1,011,833 in 2025 (81.5 percent). This shift in concentration is largely due to China becoming a top supplier.
In 2015, the volume of Chinese nameplates was low. GWM recorded only 142 sales (but in 2014 there were 2637), Chery recorded 201 and LDV delivered 767. There were no brands such as MG, BYD and Zeekr in the official sales data this year.
In 2025, these lines look very different: BYD delivered 52,415 vehicles, GWM recorded 52,809, MG reported 41,298, Chery reached 34,889, LDV totaled 14,108 and Geely added 5,010. Other vehicles built in China came from Tesla (28,856), Polestar (2,373) and Zeekr (1994).
With more Chinese-made Subways set to come to Australia (and the Korean-made Kia Tasman launched here last year), could Thailand be shrinking down the list?
Given 249,958 deliveries in 2025 and the fact that major manufacturers such as the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux will continue production there indefinitely, this seems unlikely.
The key change is that Thailand is no longer the undisputed second-largest supplier that it was in 2015. China’s rapid rise made 2025 a real crossover year, as Thailand was still ahead of China with 79,300 units in 2024.
The supply situation in Europe is more mixed, but several major European source countries have declined over the decade.
Germany fell from 87,894 in 2015 to 54,905 in 2025 (down 32,989), while England fell from 32,084 to 12,496 (down 19,588). Spain fell from 17,657 to 5,880 and France from 7,560 to 3,839.
There were exceptions that went the other way: Türkiye went from 3,812 to 10,562 (powered by models like Ford Transit vans and the Hyundai i20 N and Toyota C-HR), and Portugal went from 367 to 5,159 (all Volkswagen T-Rocs).
In the Americas, the number in the United States fell from 58,104 in 2015 (5.0 percent) to 31,912 in 2025 (2.6 percent), while Mexico increased from 5,238 to 19,281, moving into the top 10 countries of origin by 2025. Examples of Mexican-built cars currently sold in Australia include the Audi Q5 and Kia K4.
Although local production for Ford, Toyota and Holden was still ongoing in 2015 (although its end was announced), Australian-made cars accounted for 97,443 of total sales. That number is now zero.
Top source countries: 2015 vs. 2025
Below is a breakdown of the top 10 countries by sales volume in 2015 and 2025.
Note that not all brands report their sales to VFACTS. Examples of brands that never reported sales include Mahindra and Xpeng.
| rank | country | Sales (2015) | country | Sales (2025) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan | 335,288 | Japan | 358,981 |
| 2 | Thailand | 249,804 | China | 252,928 |
| 3 | Korea | 140,172 | Thailand | 249,958 |
| 4 | Germany | 87,894 | Korea | 149,966 |
| 5 | USA | 58,104 | Germany | 54,905 |
| 6 | England | 32,084 | USA | 31,912 |
| 7 | South Africa | 20,401 | Mexico | 19,281 |
| 8 | Czech Republic | 18,093 | South Africa | 12,612 |
| 9 | Spain | 17,657 | England | 12,496 |
| 10 | India | 13,901 | turkey | 10,562 |
Fuel mix (light vehicles): 2015 vs. 2025
| Fuel type | Sales (2015) | Sales (2025) |
|---|---|---|
| Diesel | 334,052 | 364,605 |
| Electric | 1108 | 72,041 |
| Hybrid | 12,138 | 199,133 |
| petrol | 773,865 | 475,279 |
| Liquefied gas | 2,061 | – |
| hydrogen | – | 2 |
| PHEV | No data available | 53,484 |
MORE: VFACTS 2025: Another record year for new car sales in Australia, but modest growth overall
