The short answer. Not yet. No carmaker has announced a factory to mass-produce passenger cars in Australia. BYD has said it is open to building vehicles or components here but has no immediate plans, and Chery has said it was asked to explore the idea. Australia still makes trucks, buses, caravans and parts, and remanufactures imported pick-ups, but the last mass-produced car rolled off the Holden line in Elizabeth on 20 October 2017.
Is car manufacturing coming back to Australia? The question is back in the headlines in late 2026. Europe is pushing Chinese carmakers to build vehicles locally rather than import them, and Chinese brands are opening factories in places such as Thailand, Brazil and Hungary. That has prompted fresh debate about whether Australia could win a plant of its own.
This guide explains how the local industry ended, what is still made here, the latest automotive market Australia statistics from FCAI and government sources, and the realistic outlook. We will keep it updated as announcements are made.
When Australia stopped making cars
Australia's large-scale car manufacturing ended over roughly a year. Mitsubishi had already closed its Adelaide plant in 2008. The final three manufacturers, Ford, Toyota and Holden, closed between October 2016 and October 2017.
| Facility | Date of closure | Jobs lost at closure |
|---|---|---|
| Ford production plant, Broadmeadows, Vic | 7 October 2016 | 450 |
| Ford engine, stamping and casting plant, Geelong, Vic | 7 October 2016 | 170 |
| Holden engine plant, Port Melbourne, Vic | 29 November 2016 | 177 |
| Toyota production plant, Altona, Vic | 3 October 2017 | 2700 |
| Holden production plant, Elizabeth, SA | 20 October 2017 | 805 |
Source is the federal government's review of the car manufacturing transition, using figures provided by Ford, GM Holden and Toyota. The same review says it was estimated the closures and the knock-on effect in the supply chain could cost around 27,500 direct jobs nationally, about 6600 of them at the carmakers themselves.
The reasons were a mix of high production costs, a small domestic market spread across many brands, a strong dollar during the 2010s and falling demand for the large sedans Australia built. The brands kept some local roles, including design, engineering, testing and sales.
How big is the automotive industry in Australia
Even without car factories, the car industry in Australia is large. These are the key Australia automotive industry statistics from official and industry sources.
| Measure | Figure | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| New vehicle sales in 2025 | 1,209,808 | FCAI, January 2026 |
| New vehicle sales, January to August 2026 | 811,388 | FCAI, September 2026 |
| New vehicle sales, September 2026 | 102,924, up 0.9 per cent | FCAI, October 2026 |
| Registered motor vehicles | 22.77 million, up about 2.1 per cent | BITRE, at 31 January 2026 |
| Registered trailers, caravans, campers and plant | 4.93 million | BITRE, at 31 January 2026 |
| Battery electric share of new sales, 2026 to September | 18.9 per cent | FCAI, October 2026 |
The registration figures come from the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics release Road vehicles, Australia, January 2026, published on 12 October 2026. It replaced the ABS Motor Vehicle Census, which was discontinued in 2021, so it is now the main government source for fleet size.
Australia buys well over a million new vehicles in a typical year, but almost all of them are imported. That combination, a big market with no local car plants, is why the manufacturing question keeps returning.
Australia car sales by brand
The latest monthly brand ranking published by the FCAI shows how the automotive market in Australia has shifted towards Chinese brands. In September 2026, five of the top 10 brands were Chinese.
Source is the FCAI's September 2026 VFACTS release, which excludes some brands that report separately. China supplied 35.5 per cent of vehicles sold that month, ahead of Japan on 22.5 per cent, Thailand on 17.3 per cent and South Korea on 9.6 per cent. China first overtook Japan as the largest monthly source in February 2026.
The top-selling models were the Ford Ranger, Toyota RAV4 and Toyota HiLux, with the BYD Sealion 7 the best-selling electric car. Our September 2026 best-selling new cars report has the full breakdown.
Who are the big 3 in the car industry
The term big 3 usually refers to the three traditional United States carmakers, General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, which grew out of Chrysler.
In Australia, the phrase is often used for the last three companies to build cars here, Holden, which was owned by General Motors, Ford and Toyota. Today, measured by sales, the top three new vehicle brands in September 2026 were Toyota, BYD and Ford. Toyota is also the largest make on the road, with about 3.32 million registered vehicles according to BITRE.
What is still made in Australia
Australia did not stop building vehicles altogether. It stopped mass-producing passenger cars. Several vehicle manufacturing and conversion businesses remain.
| Sector | Example | Latest public milestone |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy trucks | Kenworth, built by PACCAR at Bayswater, Vic, since 1971 | 90,000th Australian-made truck delivered in June 2026 |
| Buses | Volgren, bus bodies built in Dandenong, Vic, and other sites | 6000th bus built at Dandenong in March 2026 |
| Caravans and RVs | Mostly Victorian manufacturers | 23,963 RVs built in 2025, including 18,438 caravans |
| Right-hand-drive remanufacturing | Large US pick-ups converted in Melbourne for brands such as Chevrolet and Ram | Ongoing |
| Components and engineering | Parts suppliers, plus local design, tuning and testing teams | Ongoing |
The truck figure comes from Kenworth Australia, and the caravan figures from the Caravan Industry Association of Australia's 2026 State of the Industry research.
Local engineering is growing too. Chery has confirmed plans for an Australian research and development centre for local car tuning, and specialist builders continue to modify and remanufacture vehicles, as our story on the Holden Dealer Team's return with a reimagined Brock Commodore shows.
Is car manufacturing coming back to Australia
There is renewed interest, but no confirmed plan. Here is where the main players stand as of 2 November 2026.
- BYD. In June 2026, BYD vice president Liu Xueliang said the company was open to manufacturing vehicles or components in Australia, while stressing there were no immediate plans and that growing sales was the priority.
- Chery. In May 2026, Chery International president Zhang Guibing said the company's chairman had asked him to explore whether Australian manufacturing could be revived. No plant has been announced.
- Europe. The European Union already applies extra tariffs of up to 35.3 per cent on Chinese-built electric cars, and some member states want local-production rules for subsidies and government fleets. That is pushing Chinese brands to build in Europe, not Australia.
- Government. Federal programs such as the National Reconstruction Fund and the Future Made in Australia agenda support advanced manufacturing, but no car assembly project has been announced under them.
The key difference from Europe is that Australia does not have a tariff wall that rewards local production. Under free trade agreements, vehicles from major source countries generally arrive without the old 5 per cent import duty, and the Australia and European Union free trade agreement announced in March 2026 removes it for European cars as well. A carmaker would need a commercial reason to build here rather than ship from an existing factory.
What it would take for a car plant to return
Economists and industry figures who have looked at the question tend to point to the same factors.
| Factor | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Scale | A plant needs high, steady volumes. Australia's market is split across dozens of brands. |
| Exports | A local plant would almost certainly need export markets to fill capacity. |
| Costs | Labour, energy, logistics and supplier availability all affect the cost of each vehicle. |
| Supply chain | Much of the old components base has shrunk or diversified since 2017. |
| Policy | Government support can reduce start-up costs, but cannot replace a viable business case. |
A more realistic first step, if one comes, would be smaller-scale assembly of selected models, or local production of components, batteries or specialist vehicles such as buses and trucks, rather than a return to the high-volume sedan plants of the past.
Which industry is booming in Australia
Within the motoring sector, the clearest growth story is electrified vehicles. In September 2026, battery electric vehicles took 24.2 per cent of new sales, up from 11.3 per cent a year earlier, while plug-in hybrid sales rose 122.7 per cent and hybrid sales 20.7 per cent. Petrol sales fell 36.2 per cent and diesel 18.4 per cent. We covered this shift in our story on electric cars outselling petrol in Australia.
Caravan and camping is another strong area. Caravan parks earned a record $3.3 billion in revenue in 2025, and Australia's registered RV fleet grew 4 per cent to about 937,000, according to the Caravan Industry Association of Australia.
That growth is mostly in sales, servicing, charging and tourism rather than factory production. It is one reason the debate keeps returning to EVs and batteries as the most likely route back into vehicle manufacturing.
The bottom line
Australia remains a large, competitive and fast-changing new car market with no local passenger car factory. Interest from Chinese brands is real, but so far it is talk rather than investment. Watch for a firm site, a production model and an export plan. Until all three are announced, treat any talk of a local car plant as a possibility, not a plan.