Australian BEV share eases to 24.2% in September on FCAI's count

Battery-electric vehicles took 24.2% of Australia's new vehicle market in September 2026, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries said on October 6. That is below the record 24.9% FCAI reported for August (our August report) and more than double the 11.3% share of September 2025. The VFACTS series FCAI runs recorded 102,924 sales, up 0.9% on September 2025; the BEV share is measured on sales from all sources, a wider base.

The mix kept moving away from combustion. Plug-in hybrid sales rose 122.7% on September 2025 and hybrid sales 20.7%, while petrol sales fell 36.2% and diesel 18.4%, FCAI says. Year to date, BEVs hold 18.9% of the market, against 8.1% at the same point in 2025, and China supplied 35.5% of the September market. "Many consumers are making practical decisions and selecting from the range of available technologies that best meet their needs," acting chief executive Dianne O'Hara said.

Petrol lost by a hair. Electric cars outsold petrol cars for the second month in a row, The Driven reports, tallying 26,087 EVs against 26,018 petrol cars, a 69-vehicle margin by our count, and 25,173 diesels, with another 10,072 plug-in hybrids. The month's best-selling EV is missing from FCAI's top ten, which counts only models recorded by VFACTS: The Driven has the Tesla Model Y at 4,476 sales, behind the Ford Ranger and Toyota RAV4, which FCAI counts at 5,062 and 4,624. The Driven also cites Electric Vehicle Council figures showing Tesla sold 5,654 EVs in all.

The council's own scoreboard has no dip. The Electric Vehicle Council's homepage says battery-electric vehicles led every other fuel type for a second month in September, taking 24.9% of new car sales ahead of petrol at 24.7% and diesel at 23.9%, and 34.5% once plug-in hybrids are counted. That is the same 24.9% the council reported for August, so on its count the BEV share held flat, while FCAI has it slipping from 24.9% to 24.2%.