Back
Market Insight: Geely’s second 10K came quick
Haitham Razagui and Matt Brogan
2026-09-07
GEELY Auto Australia passed 20,000 cumulative sales in August, its 18th month on the VFACTS register, matching the pace of BYD and four months quicker than Chery.
It took Geely 15 months to sell its 10,000th new vehicle in Australia but it took just three months to sell its second 10,000 units.
During its first 12 months in Australia, Geely averaged 552 vehicles a month and did not clear 1000 until month 13 (March 2026) in which it delivered 1208.
Just three months later, sales reached more than 3500 units and in August (month 18), Geely’s sales rate reached 4504 deliveries, its strongest month to date.
The 20,000th Geely vehicle sold in Australia was an EX2 Inspire finished in Comet Grey, handed over at Geely Leichhardt in Sydney’s inner west on August 21.
August’s VFACTS report confirmed that Geely’s cumulative total was 24,169 units.
BYD, considered a benchmark for quick adoption of a Chinese brand in the Australian market, reached its first 10,000 sales in 10 months and took a further eight for the second.
At BYD’s year-and-a-half point in its Australian ramp-up, the brand recorded 1410 sales in a month but Geely is running at more than three times that rate after the same time in-market.
Chery took 15 months to reach its 10,000th Australian sale and seven more to hit the 20,000-unit milestone.
Last month Geely ranked ninth in VFACTS and 10th with the Electric Vehicle Council’s Tesla and Polestar sales data taken into account.
Geely also secured a 4.14 per cent market share last month, having risen from 401 deliveries in August 2025 against 4504 a year later, up 1023.2 per cent. Its year-to-date total of 19,159 units is up 600.3 per cent.
Just two Geely models have shared the majority of the brand’s sales volume to date as its newest, the EX2 battery-electric light hatchback, is barely a month in-market.
The EX5 battery-electric medium SUV has been Geely’s primary seller since its March 2025 launch, accounting for 60.7 per cent of the brand’s sales to date and ranking as high as fourth in its segment behind the Toyota RAV4, Tesla Model Y and BYD Sealion 7.
Its Starray EM-i plug-in hybrid sibling provided a second sales stream since September last year and has so far made up 32 per cent of all Geely volume while the EX2 that went on sale in mid-July narrowly outsold the Starray last month and is already responsible for 7.3 per cent of all Geely deliveries since the brand arrived in Australia.
In August all three Geely models placed in Australia’s top 20, with the EX5 on 1947 units, (seventh in VFACTS), while the EX2 (1279) and Starray EM-i (1278) placed 19th and 20th.
Geely also claims the EX2 was the best-selling passenger car in Australia during its first full month on sale and that the Starray EM-i is the nation’s top-selling PHEV YTD among passenger cars and SUVs (which excludes utes such as the BYD Shark 6).
Geely Auto Australia managing director Alex Gu said passing 20K sales demonstrated the momentum the brand had established since arriving locally.
“It’s an incredibly exciting time for Geely. We only just celebrated our 10,000th sale in April and now celebrate our 20,000th customer,” he said.
“In doing so, we recognise and thank every one of our 20,000 new owners for choosing Geely.”
The brand now operates 80 showrooms nationally, up from more than 60 in May.
An all-wheel-drive Starray EM-i is due in local dealerships within weeks and Geely will use the upcoming Everything Electric show in Sydney to announce further additions including the Emgrand L EM-i sedan and two so far unnamed SUVs.
Geely Leichhardt general sales manager Alexis Swaby said the dealership was pleased to have delivered the brand’s 20,000th vehicle.
“Reaching 20,000 Geely customers in Australia is an incredible milestone, and we’re extremely proud that Geely Leichhardt can be part of it,” she said.
Buyer of the milestone vehicle Louise Mackrill said the EX2 represented a significant step up from her previous car.
“It’s the perfect little city car. A massive upgrade after 20 years. It will be great as an everyday car running around with the kids,” she said.
“Being able to celebrate with Louise and Jonathan as they take home the new Geely EX2 makes it even more memorable for our team. It’s an exciting time for the Geely brand, and we’re thrilled to be part of its continued growth,” added Ms Swaby.
Chinese-headquartered brands now sell almost three in every 10 new vehicles delivered in Australia.