Battery electric vehicles (BEV) achieved record total sales and market share in Australia in the three months to 30 September, as internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle sales posted their lowest quarterly market share on record, according to a report from the nation’s peak motoring body.
The AAA’s quarterly EV Index, which charts progress of Australia’s transport technology transition, has also identified growth in sales of hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).
The Index shows 29,298 new BEVs were sold in the September quarter – 54 more than in the three months to June 30. But because total sales of new light vehicles fell by 3.83%, BEVs took a larger share of a smaller market (9.70% of total September quarter sales), up from the June quarter’s record of 9.31%.
Hybrids accounted for 16.52% of September quarter new light vehicle sales, their second-highest total quarterly sales since the Index was created at the start of 2023. PHEVs accounted for 4.12% of the quarter’s sales, that category’s second-highest quarterly market share.
The AAA EV Index collates information from multiple national, state and territory sources and analyses new light vehicle sales to help consumers, businesses, and fleet managers see the trends transforming Australia’s new car market.
Trends
Despite quarterly fluctuations, sales of hybrid vehicles have grown strongly over the past two years. In the first half of 2023, BEVs outsold hybrids nationally, but since then hybrids have outsold BEVs in nine consecutive quarters.
PHEV sales had been growing strongly from a low base since the EV Index was launched in Q1 2023, recording only one quarter (Q1 2024) of declining sales and market share until their market share fell from 4.82% in Q1 2025 to 3.79% in Q2 2025. PHEVs’ market share rebounded to 4.12% in the September quarter. (Fringe Benefits Tax exemptions for PHEVs ended on 31 March, which may have brought forward some sales that would have otherwise occurred in the June quarter.)
Fuel types and vehicle types – Q3 2025
In the September quarter, ICE remained the leading fuel type for all market segment sales except medium cars, which were dominated by hybrids (40.70%) and BEVs (40.27%). ICE accounted for 18.34% of medium car sales with PHEVs making up the remaining 0.69%.
Medium SUVs remain Australia’s most popular vehicle segment (26.06% of total Q3 new light vehicle sales). ICE vehicles accounted for 43.03% of Q3 medium SUV sales, even though only 16.10% of ICE sales were medium SUVs.
Hybrids accounted for 27.02% of medium SUV sales, BEVs for 22.70%, and PHEVs for 7.26%. This is the highest proportion of BEVs among medium SUV sales on record, slightly up from the June quarter’s 22.24%. In the March 2025 quarter, only 10.92% of medium SUV sales were BEVs.
Among ICE vehicles, in Q3 medium SUVs were outsold by 4WD utes, small SUVs, and large SUVs, respectively. But medium SUVs were the single biggest vehicle segment among the other major fuel types, accounting for 60.99% of all Q3 new BEV sales, 42.60% of all new hybrid sales and 45.85% of all PHEV sales. Among PHEVs, medium SUVs are followed by 4WD utes and large SUVs. PHEV sales in other segments are negligible.
Media Release: Australian Automobile Association
