CANBERRA, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Petrol vehicle sales in Australia were down 36.2 percent year-on-year in September as electric vehicle sales continued to surge, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) reported on Tuesday.

The report also said that diesel vehicle sales declined by 18.4 percent in September.

In the same period, the FCAI said that sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids more than doubled.

It said that BEVs accounted for 24.2 percent of all new vehicles sold in Australia in September, the second-highest market share on record behind the 24.9 percent reported in August.

It marked the fifth consecutive month of BEVs accounting for at least 20 percent of new vehicle sales after the milestone was first achieved in May.

The FCAI said that China was the largest source of vehicles sold in Australia in September, supplying 35.5 percent of the market compared to 22.5 percent supplied by Japan.

China became the leading source of new vehicles in Australia for the first time in February after Japan had been the country's leading supplier of new vehicles every month for almost 30 years.

As of the end of September, China's BYD had sold 76,614 new vehicles in Australia in 2026, up 102 percent from 37,923 at the same point in 2025. ■

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