Record sales of BYD's mid-size electric family SUV pushed it to the top of the EV charts in December 2025 – but its nearest US rival has stayed ahead in the annual rankings.
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The BYD Sealion 7 electric SUV has reported its best-ever sales month in Australia – and topped the EV charts in December – to wrap up more than 13,000 deliveries in its first calendar-year on sale.
It was the country's fourth-best-selling new vehicle in December 2025, data published by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) shows, with 2546 deliveries reported for the month, beating its previous record of 1887 cars in September.
That places it on the heels of the Toyota HiLux ute (2622) – which, admittedly, changed over from old to new models in December – and ahead of the Ford Everest (2149) and Isuzu D-Max (2105).
The Sealion 7 also outsold two of its nearest rivals, the Tesla Model Y (1998) and Zeekr 7X (293), combined – though the latter is down on the 682 reported as sold a month prior.
It means it was Australia's top-selling electric vehicle last month – a title it has claimed before, reporting 1427 sales in July 2025 against the Model Y's 555, due to a break in stock for the latter.
The Sealion 7 has claimed second place in the annual EV sales ranking, behind only the Tesla Model Y's tally of 22,239 registrations.
Importantly, it marks the first time in the sedan's history that the Tesla Model 3 has not placed in the Top Two best-selling electric cars in Australia, such has been Tesla's dominance of the EV market to date.
The US car giant remains ahead of BYD's battery-electric range in the manufacturer sales race, reporting 28,856 deliveries in 2025, ahead of the Chinese giant's 25,287.
BYD electric-car sales are up 77.3 per cent year-on-year, but remove the Sealion 7 from the tally – as well as other new models such as the Atto 1 and Atto 2 – and deliveries would be down 23.6 per cent.
However, include sales of BYD plug-in hybrids – including the popular Shark 6 ute – and the brand's total grows to 52,415, up 156 per cent on the prior year.
The Sealion 7 has found success in Australia as a more conventional alternative to the popular Model Y, with a spacious cabin and a circa-$4000 lower entry price, starting at $54,990 plus on-road costs.
BYD has replaced a $4000 cashback offer on the Sealion 7 Performance late in 2025 with a $3000 cashback on both model grades, Premium and Performance.
It is available for vehicles ordered by the end of January 2026 – and delivered by the end of February – unless extended.
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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
