Tesla Australian deliveries up 84 per cent year to date as Model Y L adds volume, Polestar slides

Tesla's September surge and record year-to-date run

Tesla's Australian deliveries rose 21.3 per cent year over year in September 2026 to 5654 units, according to data published and made widely available by the Electric Vehicle Council (EVC), which also reports Polestar's sales figures. CarExpert was first to detail the numbers, noting it was not Tesla's largest monthly increase of the year but part of a sustained climb: year-to-date deliveries sit at 41,705 units, up 84.1 per cent. ¹²

That run means Tesla has already surpassed its entire 2025 result with three months of the year to spare. CarExpert reports the brand delivered 28,856 vehicles in 2025, a decline of 24.8 per cent on the year prior, finishing 15th among brands. The 2026 total has now comfortably overtaken that figure. ¹

Model Y L lifts Australia's best-selling EV

The Model Y accounted for 4476 of Tesla's September deliveries, a 14.0 per cent year-over-year increase, and its year-to-date sales are up 108.4 per cent. Notably, 1764 of those September units were the stretched, three-row Model Y L launched earlier this year, which CarExpert identifies as helping fuel the brand's rise up the local sales charts. ¹

The Model 3 also swung back into growth, rising 60.1 per cent year over year to 1178 units in September, and sitting at 5775 units year to date, up 6.6 per cent. CarExpert notes the sedan's sagging sales were already turning around before Tesla announced this month it was slashing the base price by $9000 with the introduction of a new entry-level RWD variant. ¹

The Model 3's Australian launch history includes a compliance stumble: CarExpert has previously reported that Tesla launched its updated Model 3 sedan in late 2023 despite it not complying with Australian Design Rule 34/03 on child restraint anchorages, forcing the brand to pause sales and recall already-delivered vehicles so a fix could be deployed. ³

Polestar's monthly and year-to-date declines

Polestar moved in the opposite direction in the EVC's September 2026 report, with deliveries down 15.3 per cent year over year to 200 units and year-to-date volume at 1681 units, down 10.0 per cent, as reported by CarExpert. ¹

Within the lineup, the Polestar 2 bucked the trend in September, up 130.3 per cent year over year to 76 units, though it remains down 26.9 per cent year to date at 484 deliveries. The Polestar 3 large SUV managed just six units in September (down 88.5 per cent) and sits at 57 units year to date (down 67.1 per cent). The Polestar 4 fell 24.5 per cent for the month to 114 units; CarExpert notes its sales could see a bump from a new, more practical wagon-styled body style due before the end of the year. Polestar also recorded its first four deliveries of the Polestar 5 grand tourer. ¹

A widening EV field pressures the benchmark

Tesla's Model Y remains the sales benchmark rivals are pricing against. CarExpert has reported that Mazda Australia positions its new CX-6e electric SUV from $53,990 before on-road costs, which it says undercuts the base Model Y by $4910, while MG launched the S6 EV at $49,990 drive-away in Essence RWD guise, undercutting the base Model Y Premium RWD, listed by CarExpert at $58,900 before on-road costs, and the BYD Sealion 7 Premium at $54,990 before on-roads. CarExpert also cites Model Y year-to-date sales of 20,936 to the end of June as the figure Mazda CEO Vinesh Bhindi benchmarked against when predicting the CX-6e could grow to 1000 sales a month. ⁴⁵

BYD, the Model Y's chief volume rival locally, has faced headwinds globally even as its Australian lineup expands. CarExpert reports that BYD overtook Tesla as the world's number one EV maker in 2025, selling 2.26 million EVs of 4.60 million total cars against Tesla's 1.64 million deliveries, but that its global sales fell 30.1 per cent year over year in January 2026 and it cut its 2026 export forecast from 1.5 million to 1.3 million cars. In Australia, BYD surged into the top 10 in 2025 with 51,415 sales, more than double its 2024 result. ⁶