Utes dominate vehicles sales and push BYD past Tesla

Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson | July 3, 2025

Dual-cab utes are driving Australia’s automotive market, representing the top four best-selling vehicles in the nation and one in every four new models sold. 

But the popularity of one hybrid ute has also pushed low-emission vehicle brand BYD up the charts during June, helping it surpass long-time rival Tesla by a significant margin. 

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries revealed the trends in sales figures on Thursday, which showed motorists purchased more than 120,000 vehicles to recover from a sales slump earlier in 2025. 

Electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles also continued to climb in popularity during the month, although sales of passenger cars, such as sedans and hatchbacks, fell again. 

While regularly ranking highly among Australia’s bestsellers, utes claimed all four top places in June, with the Ford Ranger in pole position with more than 6200 sales.

 The Toyota HiLux, Isuzu D-Max and BYD Shark 6 utes filled the other top spots, which chamber chief executive Tony Weber said highlighted the enduring popularity of the workhorse vehicles.

“In a market of more than 400 models, the top four utes made up 15.2 per cent of all sales during June,” he said. 

“Australia remains one of the most open and competitive markets in the world, where consumers have a wide range of choice across all market segments.”

The figures also revealed a spike in popularity for BYD’s Shark 6 plug-in hybrid electric ute, which was snapped up by almost 3000 motorists, representing more than double its sales in May. 

The boost lifted BYD to become Australia’s fifth best-selling vehicle brand during June, surpassing long-time electric rival Tesla that ranked in tenth place. 

Electric vehicle sales also accelerated during June as motorists purchased more than 13,000 battery-powered cars, representing more than 10 per cent of all new vehicle sales. 

Figures from the Electric Vehicle Council showed sales of Tesla’s Model Y improved compared to June 2024, although sales for the US car maker remained 38 per cent lower than last year.

Hybrid vehicles continued their streak during June, with the number of plug-in hybrid electric car sales doubling during the month despite the removal of a fringe-benefits tax exemption in April. 

Hybrids also outsold electric cars during June, although the gap between the two vehicle types narrowed to a little over 3900 vehicles. 

Australians’ appreciation for large vehicles also shone through in the chamber’s figures, with SUV sales up by 9.4 per cent to represent 58 per cent of all sales, while light commercial vehicles such as utes made up 25 per cent. 

Passenger vehicles continued to fall in popularity with buyers, making up just over 15,000 sales or 12.3 per cent of all car sales.