The latest Australian new car sales figures reveal a new leader in the electric vehicle sales race, relegating Tesla to second place.
The BYD Sealion 7 has beaten the Tesla Model Y to the top spot on the EV chart of Australia’s new car sales board.
Sales figures issued by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) and Electric Vehicle Council (EVC) reveal a changing of the guard in Australia’s EV sales race.
The Sealion 7 recorded 1427 sales in July, compared to 555 sales of the Tesla Model Y.
In fact, for the month of July, Tesla’s combined Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV sales only added up to 917 units.
MORE: 2025 BYD Sealion 7 review – Australian first drive
Combined sales year to date still have the Model Y in the lead by a significant margin, however, with 10,986 Model Y sales to the end of July, against 5183 Sealion 7 sales.
BYD’s launch for the Sealion 7 took place in February 2025, meaning the model misses out on a complete sales history for the year.
Tesla’s tally for 2025 so far is down by 20.8 per cent compared to 2024.
The Sealion 7’s sales tally also makes it BYD’s most popular model for July, ahead of the plug-in hybrid Shark 6 ute (1233) and Sealion 6 SUV (1123).
MORE: 2025 Tesla Model Y review – Australian first drive of Juniper facelift
Compared to June’s figures, Sealion 7 figures have slipped slightly, with 1795 sales recorded in the previous month, compared to Tesla’s massive decline from the 3457 deliveries recorded in June.
Tesla has also seen sales for July drop compared to 2024 when 1353 Model Ys were delivered, despite the introduction of an updated Model Y range in May 2025.
Tesla’s changeover to the updated Model Y saw sales slow in the lead-up to the updated version, with strong sales in May and June as a result.
A gap in arrivals of new Model Ys from the Chinese factory is responsible for the dip in deliveries last month.
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