Australian new-car sales in February 2026: Toyota RAV4 runout pulls down VFACTS market

A shortage of Toyota RAV4 stock has led new-car sales in Australia to hit the brakes in February 2026 after five consecutive months of growth.

Data published by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) and Electric Vehicle Council (EVC) reports 94,131 new vehicles as sold last month, down 2.7 per cent compared to the same month a year earlier.

It is the lowest February sales result since 86,878 cars were reported three years ago, but it is still the fourth-highest result in 10 years.

As with January 2026, Toyota led the downturn, reporting 27.8 per cent lower deliveries than in February 2025 – to 13,606 – as stock of the outgoing RAV4 SUV runs out ahead of a new model's arrival at the end of March.

Just 723 RAV4s were reported as sold last month – down from 1757 examples in January, and 83.6 per cent lower than the 4405 sales reported this time last year.

When the RAV4 is excluded, new-car sales in Australia would have grown by 1.2 per cent last month.

Toyota HiLux ute deliveries were also up in February 2026, though by just nine examples – to 3625 deliveries reported – despite the arrival of a more technologically advanced, new-generation model at the end of 2025.

The Japanese car giant says deliveries are still ramping up, with extra-cab diesel versions yet to arrive, but it is not facing stock limitations, unlike the Prado 4WD (down 53.3 per cent last month to 1273).

Toyota was one of nine brands in the Top 20 to post a sales decline last month, alongside second-placed Mazda (down 19.9 per cent to 7042), but not third-placed Ford, which was up 9.0 per cent to 6907 sales.

The Ford Ranger remained the country's top-selling new vehicle (4325 sales, up 7.1 per cent), ahead of the Toyota HiLux (3625, up 0.2 per cent), and a resurgent Tesla Model Y (2791, up 202 per cent).

Chinese car sales continued to rise, led by BYD (5323 sales) in sixth, GWM (4689, up 24.9 per cent) in seventh, and Chery (3938, up 93.2 per cent) in eighth.

The Chery Tiggo 4 was the country's fourth-most popular new car last month, reporting 2315 sales (up 117 per cent), while another Chinese-branded SUV, the GWM Haval Jolion (1804 sales), ended the month in 10th position.

BYD's 62.2 per cent sales increase was not as sharp as January's 641 per cent, however, due to low sales in January 2025, and February last year being the first full month of Shark 6 ute deliveries.

Shark 6 demand appears to have flat-lined, reporting 1058 sales in February – the sixth time in the past seven months it has recorded between 1000 and 1200 sales in a month.

Electric vehicle popularity surged by 95.9 per cent last month – to 11,134 sales, accounting for 11.8 per cent of the market – thanks to a rebound in Tesla deliveries, from 1592 sales to 3274.

February 2025 was a slow month for the US brand, due to stock of the old Model Y SUV running out ahead of the updated version's arrival in May.

However, last month's figure would've been higher had the Tesla Model 3 sedan not continued its decline, falling by 27.7 per cent to 483 sales.

The Zeekr 7X bounced back from delivery delays to 682 sales, matching November 2025 for its best result over its short time in showrooms, while BYD reported 1327 Sealion 7s leaving its showrooms.

Data below supplied by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) and Electric Vehicle Council (EVC).

Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner

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