MG says BYD deserves its Australian sales success

MG Motor Australia has said BYD – which came within 243 units of topping market leader Toyota in June – deserves its Australian sales success, but says it's not focused on its own sales numbers.

While the headlines centred on BYD as well as the Tesla Model Y, which was Australia’s best-selling model across all fuel types for the second consecutive month, MG made quiet headway as it looks to recapture its previous success.

In a record month for the Australian new-vehicle market, MG finished June 2026 in ninth place, overtaking rival Chery with 5001 sales. It was up 28.4 per cent year over year, while the brand's sales in the first half of this year are up by 6.8 per cent on the same period last year.

Yet this was overshadowed by BYD’s dramatic sales spike in June, with 18,881 deliveries compared to 8211 the previous month, which saw it come closer than ever to beating long-time market leader Toyota.

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“BYD and the other competitors are doing that, we're respectful to our competitors, they're doing a wonderful job - they deserve this, the success that they're having, absolutely,” MG Motor Australia marketing director Dimitri Andreatidis told CarExpert.

“From our perspective, we’re not focused on the sales number; we’re fixated on our customer and our dealers. We’re bolstering our existing product lineup [and] if we continue to focus on that, then we can make our MG brand resonate with more Australian customers.”

In June, MG’s most popular model was the ZS with 1827 deliveries, down 6.1 per cent year over year. It competes in the cutthroat small SUV segment, which it led for a time but where it finished in sixth position in June.

While it held a comfortable lead over the seventh-place Mazda CX-30 (1259), it fell behind the Hyundai Kona (2505), BYD Atto 2 (2482), GWM Haval Jolion (2446), Chery Tiggo 4 (2329), and Jaecoo J5 (2096).

In contrast, the recently launched MG 4 EV Urban hatch is off to a strong start. It posted 1015 deliveries, finishing just 22 units short of the segment-leading Toyota Corolla’s 1037.

The petrol/hybrid MG 3 was the brand's third-best-selling vehicle and topped the light car segment with 898 deliveries, beating the electric BYD Atto 1 by 27.

The MG 3’s price has been dropped by $1000 for July to start at $19,990 drive-away for the entry-level Vibe. It's currently Australia's cheapest new car.

MG’s biggest improver was the S5 EV, with 286 deliveries, up 67.3 per cent year over year and 518.4 per cent year-to-date.

All up, MG Motor Australia delivered 23,146 vehicles in the first six months of 2026, compared to 21,674 over the same period in 2025.

Yet that compares to 24,593 in the first half of 2024, and 26,692 in the first six months of 2023 – when it reached its peak ranking of seventh overall.

The MG marketing lead’s comments on the brand’s competitors came as the company announced the MG U9 Black Edition dual-cab ute as the fourth model grade in the U9 lineup.

The U9 was introduced in September 2025 and is yet to make any serious inroads against rivals, including the segment-leading Ford Ranger.

A battery-electric version of the U9 is due to launch in Australia later this year, joining the Toyota HiLux BEV and KGM Musso EV electric dual-cab utes already on sale.

MORE: VFACTS June 2026: New-vehicle sales set all-time monthly record as BYD and Tesla surge
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