BYD says Australian consumers will determine when it topples long-time sales leader Toyota, following a sales surge that saw it place second overall for the second consecutive month in May 2026.
Toyota Australia still delivered 76,017 new vehicles in the first five months of 2026, comfortably ahead of BYD’s 33,454 units.
However, BYD’s rapid growth has seen its sales more than double from 15,199 at the same point last year, while Toyota’s tally has fallen from 100,753 as the gap between the two brands continues to narrow.
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BYD launched in Australia in 2022 under importer EVDirect, whose founder and executive director Luke Todd made bold predictions about how quickly the Chinese brand could challenge Toyota for market leadership.
“I’m on record as saying our target is 2027,” Mr Todd told CarExpert in early 2025 when asked when BYD expected to become Australia’s number-one automotive brand.
In mid-2025, BYD took over Australian distribution from EVDirect, which remains a dealer partner for the brand.
Toyota has been Australia’s best-selling automotive brand every year since 2003, when it overtook Holden for the first time. It also holds the record for the highest annual sales result, delivering 241,296 vehicles in 2024, and has seen its Corolla, HiLux and RAV4 top annual sales in the last decade.
Toyota’s market share was approximately 19.3 per cent in 2025. Its January-to-May 2026 result keeps it on top, though its market share has fallen from 20.3 per cent to 15.5 per cent year-on-year.
BYD’s market share has increased from 3.1 per cent in May 2025 to 8.2 per cent in May 2026, with the Sealion 7 SUV its most popular model ahead of the Shark 6 ute. Year-to-date, its market share is sitting at 6.8 per cent.
Speaking to media, including CarExpert, at an event marking the arrival of almost 5000 BYD vehicles in Melbourne yesterday, BYD vice president Liu Xueliang was more measured when asked when the Chinese brand might overtake Toyota.
“Toyota is still an excellent company,” said Mr Liu.
“We continue learning while working hard ourselves. Whether we can surpass Toyota in Australia ultimately depends on Australian consumers.”
Toyota Australia issued a press release yesterday that appeared aimed at adding context to the arrival of the BYD Zhengzhou – one of the automaker’s own vehicle carrier ships – which delivered almost 5000 of the 30,000 vehicles BYD plans to bring to Australia by the end of June.
Toyota’s statement said it had secured an additional 10,000 vehicles for Australia and remained on track to deliver 220,000 vehicles in 2026.
BYD said in April it planned to ship 30,000 vehicles to Australia in response to increased demand, particularly for its electric vehicles (EVs).
April sales figures appeared to support that claim, with BYD posting a record 7702 deliveries to finish second overall for the first time.
The company backed that up in May, recording 8211 sales to retain second place behind Toyota, which delivered 16,342 vehicles.
MORE: Explore the BYD showroom
