BYD nearly quadrupled its local revenue last year, spearheading aggressive growth by Chinese carmakers in the Australian market at a time when demand for electric vehicles is surging amid a sharp rise in petrol prices.
The Chinese EV giant generated $2.43 billion in local sales in the year to December 31, its latest set of financial results show, up from $688.8 million in the prior year. That helped drive profits up to $137.9 million from $38 million.
BYD was the eighth best-selling car brand in Australia in 2025 after just three years of operating in the country. It has since further surged up the ranks as the conflict in the Middle East sent petrol prices to near-record highs, accelerating the switch to EVs.
Sales of BYD’s plug-in hybrids and EVs jumped 61 per cent to 76,614 in the year to September, according to Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries data, making it the second-best selling brand ahead of Ford, Kia and Mazda but behind Toyota.
EVs accounted for more than a quarter of new car sales in the first half of 2026, with the country’s EV fleet reaching 612,000 vehicles to the end of June, an increase of 83 per cent on last year’s figures. More than 80 per cent of Australia’s EVs are sourced from China.
BYD’s global net profit rose to $US1.22 billion ($1.72 billion) between April and June, ending four straight quarters of declines, largely thanks to surging exports, which accounted for 44 per cent of total sales.
Australia, with its close trading relationship with China, lack of trade barriers and generous government incentives for EV buyers has made it an appealing market for overseas expansion. BYD remains locked out of the United States market, the world’s second-largest, due to 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese vehicles imposed by the Trump administration.
In June, BYD came within 243 sales of topping Toyota, which has been Australia’s top-selling vehicle brand for at least two decades. That same month BYD delivered 5000 vehicles in its own purpose-built car carrier to the Port of Melbourne.
Toyota has since re-established its lead by a comfortable margin, buoyed by strong demand for its new RAV4 and HiLux models, which are now offered with plug-in hybrid and electric powertrains.
The Japanese manufacturer has been aggressively ramping up its supply to reduce vehicle wait times, which blew out to more than six months for some models during the pandemic, and fend off the challenge from Chinese rivals.
Car buying intentions among local consumers remain relatively strong, according to market analysis from investment bank Barrenjoey, despite rising interest rates and weak consumer confidence, which is suffering from its worst extended period in more than three decades.
About 62 per cent of consumers Barrenjoey surveyed in October had intentions to buy a car in the near future, up from 55 per cent in July. Of those, 56 per cent were considering buying an electric or hybrid vehicle.
It comes as EV brands compete aggressively for sales, with BYD slashing prices on some models by up to 25 per cent. Rivals are offering generous cash-back offers and even Bunnings vouchers in a bid to grab market share.
Extracted in full from: https://www.afr.com/companies/transport/chinese-ev-giant-byd-more-than-triples-local-sales-to-2-4b-20261019-p616lk
