Electric and plug-in hybrid specialist BYD has delivered its 40,000th car in Australia after it launched in mid-2022 – a feat arch-rival Tesla achieved three years after its volume-selling Model 3 arrived.
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BYD has recorded more than 40,000 deliveries in Australia, two-and-a-half years after it launched under its current independent distributor with the Atto 3 electric SUV.
EVDirect – the distributor of BYD cars in Australia – has confirmed it delivered its 40,000th BYD vehicle this month, 30 months after it started importing models from the Chinese electric and plug-in hybrid-focused brand.
It has beaten its arch-rival Tesla, which is understood to have sold its 40,000th electric car in Australia sometime in the second half of 2022 after it initially launched in 2011 with its low-volume Roadster sports car.
The Tesla Model S followed in 2014, along with the Model X in 2017 – but its sales began to soar in Australia when the more affordable Model 3 and Model Y arrived in 2019 and 2022, respectively.
More than 45,000 Tesla deliveries were recorded in 2023 alone, its strongest year in Australia so far.
Meanwhile, the BYD brand launched in Australia in 2021 under Nexport with its now-defunct E6 and T3 models – but, like Tesla, its sales didn't take off until the Atto 3 small SUV arrived in 2022, via its current distributor EVDirect.
The brand said it expects to deliver "more than 40,000 vehicles in Australia" in 2025 alone, which would require an average monthly sales number of 3333.
BYD sold 3281 vehicles in February 2025 as it recorded the first deliveries of its Shark 6 ute, which accounted for 2026 of its registrations for the month.
"What we’re providing Australian customers is a choice they haven’t previously been able to enjoy," EVDirect chief executive officer David Smitherman said.
"With the Shark 6, Sealion 7, and soon the Essentials range, we’re introducing new vehicles in segments and at price points never seen before.
"It makes me smile to see so many BYDs on Australian roads, because I know just how good these vehicles are – and having spent the past week in China, I can tell you we have no plans to slow down."
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Jordan is a motoring journalist based in Melbourne with a lifelong passion for cars. He has been surrounded by classic Fords and Holdens, brand-new cars, and everything in between from birth, with his parents’ owning an automotive workshop in regional Victoria. Jordan started writing about cars in 2021, and joined the Drive team in 2024.
