Australia's October BEV share slips to 23.1%; petrol sales fall 35.9% y/y

Battery-electric vehicles took 23.1% of Australia's new vehicle sales in October 2026, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries said on November 5, almost three times their 7.3% share a year earlier. That is the second monthly slip in a row, after the record 24.9% FCAI reported for August and 24.2% for September. The share is measured on sales from all sources, a wider base than the VFACTS count of 103,325 sales, up 3.8% on October 2025.

Combustion kept shrinking. Petrol sales fell 35.9% on October 2025 and diesel 14.7%, FCAI says, and China supplied 36.3% of the vehicles recorded through VFACTS. Toyota led the brands with 20,649 sales and BYD came second with 10,025. FCAI credits competition, Middle East instability, higher fuel prices and federal tax concessions for strong BEV demand throughout 2026, "with little indication that demand is easing."

Electric cars outsold petrol-only cars for a third straight month, The Driven reports from combined FCAI and Electric Vehicle Council figures: 24,845 battery-electric vehicles against 23,605 petrol cars. Diesel, down 14.7% on the year, still finished ahead of both with 25,649.

The Tesla Model Y stayed Australia's best-selling EV and stayed out of FCAI's top ten, which is drawn from VFACTS. Its 3,105 sales, per the Electric Vehicle Council, would place it fourth in the combined rankings, The Driven says, behind the Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger and Toyota RAV4 (5,954, 4,841 and 4,718 on FCAI's list). Tesla's 4,050 sales were 342% above October 2025, the council says, though down from 5,654 in September, per The Driven.

FCAI chief executive Tony Weber turned to charging: "This increase in new vehicle demand, especially BEVs, must be supported by reliable and accessible charging infrastructure that keeps pace with demand."