The Toyota RAV4 is a popular choice among Canberrans. Photo: James Coleman.
New car sales data reveal 949 examples of the RAV4 were sold in the ACT last year, a solid jump on the car in second place – the Tesla Model Y – which sold 771 units.
The Ford Ranger is in third place, with 613 sales, followed by the BYD Shark 6 (512), Toyota HiLux (416), Hyundai Kona (398), BYD Sealion 7 (322), Mitsubishi Outlander (310), Mazda CX-5 (290) and Hyundai Tucson (281).
In terms of the brands with the highest number of sales, this list also starts with Toyota (2983), followed by BYD (1500), Hyundai (1218), Kia (1168), Mazda (1137), Ford (1024), Tesla (1011), Volkswagen (854), GWM (691) and Subaru (659).
ACT 2025 car sales by brand. Image: Region.
Nationally, Australia’s top-selling vehicles in 2025 were the Ford Ranger (56,555), followed by the Toyota RAV4 (51,947), Toyota HiLux (51,297), Ford Everest (26,161) and Toyota Prado (26,106).
Toyota was also the market leader in 2025 with 239,863 vehicles sold, representing about 19.8 per cent of the total market. It was followed by Ford (94,399), Mazda (91,293), Kia (82,105) and Hyundai (77,208).
How’s it compare to previous years?
Toyota has a strong relationship with Canberra motorists, only really tested by Tesla and Ford in recent years.
The Corolla was our best selling car in 2020, followed by – yep – the RAV4 in 2021 and 2022. Tesla then rose to victory with both the Model Y and Model 3 in 2023, with 1041 and 761 sales respectively, while the RAV4 dropped to fourth place, behind the Ford Ranger. The RAV4 regained first place in 2024, however, with 1105 sales – ahead of the Ford Ranger and Tesla Model 3.
But this year, Tesla is trailing far behind – losing ground mainly to BYD – and despite the arrival of an updated Model Y (also our Car of the Year for 2025).
Nationally, Tesla sales also dropped for the second consecutive year in 2025, down 24 per cent on 2024 – which was itself down 17 per cent on 2023.
More broadly, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) reported Australia’s new car market closed the year “on a solid note”, with a total of 98,744 new vehicles sold – or an increase of three per cent compared with December 2024.
Meanwhile, car sales fell 1.4 per cent in the ACT (17,963 total).
Is the ACT still Australia’s EV capital?
Petrol engines remain the favourite for Canberra car buyers, making up 31.2 per cent of new cars sold last year.
But this is down 19 percentage points on 2024, while hybrids and plug-in hybrids have seen whopping gains of 24 per cent and 62 per cent, respectively. Diesel is down too, by around 10 per cent (17.5 per cent market share).
But even with the decline of Tesla, EVs own a greater market share in the ACT than anywhere else in Australia, at 26.3 per cent. The national figure is 12 per cent.
Fuel type by market share, ACT 2025. Photo: Region.
Who’s buying the RAV4?
With such massive numbers for the RAV4, it’s easy to assume many will be bought by businesses. But not really, according to Canberra’s Toyota dealerships.
Mirko Milic, dealer principal for Canberra Toyota – with dealerships in Belconnen, Phillip and Gungahlin – estimates about 70 per cent of last year’s RAV4 buyers were private customers, with the remaining 30 per cent of the SUVs destined for fleets.
“I’m not surprised it’s our best seller because it’s versatile and accommodates many needs. Hybrid is still the most popular technology!”
Canberra Toyota dealer principal Mirko Milic. Photo: Thomas Lucraft.
Meanwhile, over at National Capital Toyota in Tuggeranong, it’s all “mums and dads”.
“Every second car we sell has been a RAV4 Hybrid – that’s how popular the car’s been,” National Capital Motors CEO Duncan Brede said.
“If RAV4 in Canberra was a stand-alone franchise, it would have been in the top eight of all the brands we bought.
“There hasn’t been rental or government large fleet purchase that’s driven that throughput … it’s just private customers, particularly people who don’t have the ability to take advantage of a novated lease and so aren’t really steered towards a full EV just yet.”
Is this going to change?
This year’s all-new Toyota RAV4 now comes with a PHEV option. Photo: Toyota Australia.
Toyota has revealed an “all-new” RAV4 is coming this year, priced from $45,990 for the base hybrid GX 2WD model.
On top of “significantly improved levels of technology, upgraded safety and broader grade choicer”, it’s also set to become Toyota’s first plug-in hybrid (PHEV) offering in Australia – alongside standard hybrid petrol models.
This tech involves mating a 2.5-litre petrol engine with either one or two electric motors – depending on the model – and a beefier battery, to provide about 100 km of electric driving range. The PHEV will be available in XSE form, from $58,840, and as an all-wheel-drive GR Sport, from $63,340.
The new RAV4 is expected to arrive in Canberra’s showrooms in April 2026, and hopes are high.
“We expect the new model to fly,” Mr Milic said. “I saw it in Japan; it looks great!”
The new RAV4 is expected to go on sale in Canberra in April. Photo: Toyota Australia.
Mr Brede says the only trouble will be having enough stock to keep up with demand.
“The new model’s going to have four or five new specs, new power trains, better technology, an all-new look, and the pricing’s all about the same. So demand is going to be even higher than the old one,” he said.
That said, BYD is also launching a new Seal sedan and wagon and Sealion 8 SUV this year, while Ford is mildly updating the Ranger and Everest …
