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A stroll through any carpark in Australia will tell you what plenty of new-car buyers already know – there's been an astronomical increase in the number of automotive brands available in our country in the past 12 months.
Familiar faces like Mazda, Toyota and Subaru are increasingly outnumbered by unidentifiable new badges and sleek new brand names.
As of April 2026, there are 67 new-car brands selling vehicles in Australia, with at least nine of those (Leapmotor, Cadillac, Deepal, Denza, Farizon, GAC, Geely, GMC, Omoda Jaecoo) arriving in 2025, and three others (XPeng, Smart, Zeekr) landing in late 2024.
Essentially, 17 per cent of Australia's new-car brands appeared in the past 18 months, with more to come from new brands such as Aion, Lepas and Jetour in 2026.
As for the brands already here, a remarkable number of their models are making impressive headway despite being new kids on the block.
According to March 2026 new-car sales data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), a total of 282,862 new cars have been sold in Australia so far this year. Of those, at least 13,000 were models that couldn't be glimpsed on our roads one year ago, in March 2025.
Here are the newcomers making a name for themselves in the sales stakes...
Australia's most popular cars in 2026 (that weren't on sale a year ago)
This list of most popular cars is in order of year-to-date sales volume (most to least), as of March 2026. To qualify for this list, models must have been unavailable in Australia in March 2025, and must have sold more than 1000 units in 2026 so far.
Orders for the BYD Sealion 7 electric medium SUV only opened in February 2025, but since then, it has rocketed to the top of the sales charts. In 2026 alone, BYD has sold 4468 of its Tesla Model Y rival. In March 2026 alone, a whopping 1970 models made their way to customers, with year-to-date sales up more than 500 per cent on last year.
For context, consider that the well-established Tesla Model Y sold 2818 units in March 2026, suggesting the Sealion 7 is a worthy rival. A $54,990 starting price (before on-road costs) and a range well above 500km are set to remain strong selling points.
Landing in Australia in mid-2025, the Zeekr 7X medium SUV has wowed Aussie buyers – so much so that it was crowned Best Medium SUV Under $60,000 in the Drive Car of the Year 2026 awards. So far in 2026, Zeekr has sold 1725 units of the 7X – 679 in March 2026 alone.
Kicking off at $57,900 before on-road costs, the 7X undercuts its main rival – the Tesla Model Y – on price, yet manages to deliver a premium, equipment-packed cabin and accomplished on-road feel.
The second car on this list from Chinese-born electric car powerhouse BYD is the Sealion 8, a seven-seat plug-in hybrid designed to take on the likes of the Toyota Kluger. This approach seems to be working – the Sealion 8 only officially arrived in Australia in February 2026, but it's already sold a total of 1562 units in Australia, and 836 in March alone. That's more than double the amount of Klugers sold in the same period.
Prices start at $56,990 plus on-road costs for a front-wheel-drive variant, and fuel consumption sits around 5–6L/100km depending on the variant and state of charge.
The third (but not the final) BYD model on this list – the Atto 2 landed in late 2025 and promptly won the Best Electric Vehicle Under $40K category in the Drive Car of the Year 2026 awards. It's not just the Drive judges who like this little EV – so far in 2026, BYD has sold 1481 units of its small electric SUV (572 of those in March), thanks in part to sharp pricing (from $31,990 plus on-road costs), impressive packaging and the reassurance of BYD's six-year/150,000km warranty.
The second vehicle sold in Australia by Geely – Volvo and Polestar's parent company – the Geely Starray EM-i is a plug-in hybrid medium SUV offering families plenty of space and fuel efficiency for a starting price of $37,490 plus on-road costs.
Despite only landing in customer driveways in October 2025, the Starray EM-i is proving popular, with 1384 sold so far this year, 602 of those in March. Drive's real-world testing showed the Starray EM-i can manage between 4–6L/100km on a combined driving cycle, with Geely quoting an electric-only driving range of just over 80km. Geely is hoping to cut through a highly competitive market with its appealing seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty.
The Kia Tasman joined Australia's crowded dual-cab ute market back in July 2025 and is steadily making its mark amongst well-established and high-selling rivals, including the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger.
So far in 2026, Kia has sold 1167 units of its 4x4 Tasman and an additional 171 of its 4x2 version. This might have been helped by a promotional offer Kia ran on the Tasman's drive-away pricing in January and February 2026.
Yet another electric car on the list, the Jaecoo J5 small SUV only touched down in January 2026 and has clearly made a good first impression, nabbing 1153 sales so far this year, 569 of those in March.
The J5 comes from Jaecoo, which is Chery's more premium spinoff brand but remains a budget-friendly option, starting from $35,990 plus on-road costs. Petrol and hybrid options are coming soon, there's an eight-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, affordable servicing, and Jaecoo's dealer network is rapidly expanding (they recently clocked 50 locations) to provide added peace of mind to prospective buyers.
As Australia's cheapest electric car, it's perhaps unsurprising that the BYD Atto 1 is already rocketing up the sales charts. BYD has sold 1082 units of its affordable EV in 2026 so far, with 488 making their way to customers in March alone, despite the model only landing in December 2025.
Priced from $23,990 plus on-road costs, the Atto 1 is sized somewhere between a Kia Picanto and a Toyota Yaris and is good for between 200–300km of driving range, so it is best suited to a city lifestyle.
Increasingly popular new car models
Jaecoo J7: Larger than its J5 sibling, the J7 medium SUV is priced from a sharp $34,990 drive-away and provides the option of front-wheel or all-wheel drive and full-petrol or plug-in hybrid power. It arrived in May 2025 and has sold 992 units so far in 2026, a third of those in March.
MG S5: This small electric SUV has sold 765 units so far in 2026. It launched in mid-2025 as a replacement for MG's ZS EV and is currently priced from a touch over $40,000 drive-away.
BYD Sealion 5: While the Sealion 5 – a plug-in hybrid medium SUV – has yet to sell 1000 units this year to qualify for the main list, its sales performance is particularly impressive given it only arrived in February this year and has already clocked 729 sales so far.
Volkswagen Tayron: Volkswagen's replacement for the Tiguan Allspace (with the option of seven seats or five) is gaining traction with Australian buyers, selling 613 units so far this year, having launched in showrooms in September 2025.
MG U9: MG's first ute in Australia is making headway in a crowded segment, selling 577 units so far in 2026 – despite landing in late 2025. In exciting news, an all-electric version is confirmed for Australia and coming soon.
Denza B5: Another overachiever, the B5 is an off-road-focused, plug-in hybrid SUV from BYD's sub-brand, Denza. Local deliveries only commenced in February this year, and 546 B5s have found owners so far in 2026 – not bad considering it has a starting price of $74,990 before on-road costs.
Susannah Guthrie has been a journalist for over a decade, covering everything from world news to fashion, entertainment, health and now cars. Having previously worked across titles like The New Daily, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, People Magazine and Cosmopolitan, Susannah now relishes testing family cars with the help of her husband and three-year-old son.
