Tesla · 6 Nov 2026
The Tesla Model Y is Australia's best-selling passenger car through October, with 39,035 sold against 35,927 RAV4s
CarsGuide reported on Friday that the Tesla Model Y sold 39,035 units in Australia from January to October 2026, ahead of 35,927 for the Toyota RAV4, which makes it the country's best-selling passenger car so far this year. Elon Musk shared the numbers and called the Model Y "the best-selling car of any kind on Earth." The data says something narrower: Australia, passenger cars, ten months.
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Tesla Model Y is the best-selling car of any kind on Earth
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2026
What the Australian numbers show
CarsGuide puts the Model Y at 39,035 sales up to October 2026 and the RAV4 at 35,927, a gap of 3,108 cars. On that count the Model Y is Australia's best-selling passenger car of the year so far, and CarsGuide expects it to keep that title for the full year.
It has been a record year for the car in Australia. In May it became the first fully electric car to top the monthly sales chart outright, ahead of the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux diesel utes. In June it recorded 8,072 deliveries, the highest monthly figure for any car since the Holden Commodore in the early 2000s, according to CarsGuide. Tesla added a three-row, six-seat version, the Model Y L, in March, and CarsGuide says it outsold the standard two-row Model Y in July and August.
The outlet ties the demand to higher fuel prices and buyers' worries about fuel supply. It also cites the Electric Vehicle Council's "State of EVs" report, which found one in four cars sold in Australia was electric or a plug-in hybrid.
Why the RAV4 fell behind
Toyota launched the next-generation RAV4 in Australia in March 2026 after delays of almost a year, which CarsGuide puts partly down to a slow production process. Buyers held off on the outgoing model while they waited, and RAV4 sales were down more than 70% year on year through March. The new car has since climbed the charts but has not caught up.
Supply has not held the Model Y back the same way. CarsGuide says most Model Ys are built in China, where Tesla uses large single-piece castings in place of slower welding of separate parts, and Tesla ships to Australia on a quarterly cycle that CarsGuide says has let it keep up with demand.
"Of any kind on Earth" goes further than the data
Elon's post reads as a global, all-vehicle claim. The figures behind it cover one country, Australia, for January to October, and only the passenger-car category. CarsGuide makes no claim about worldwide sales, and nothing in Friday's reporting ranks the Model Y against every car sold globally.
Even within Australia, "of any kind" includes the utes. The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries' October release (5 Nov 2026) lists the month's top three models across the whole market as the Toyota HiLux (5,954), Ford Ranger (4,841) and RAV4 (4,718). The Model Y does not appear in that October top 10. It is a single month's all-vehicle list and does not change the year-to-date passenger-car lead CarsGuide reports, but it is a reminder that utes still top the overall monthly chart.
What is confirmed
Confirmed by CarsGuide on 6 Nov 2026: 39,035 Model Y and 35,927 RAV4 sales from January to October, the Model Y's position as Australia's best-selling passenger car, the May monthly win, the 8,072 June deliveries, and the RAV4's launch delays. Confirmed by the FCAI: the October monthly top three of HiLux, Ranger and RAV4. Elon's "best-selling car of any kind on Earth" line is his own wording and is not supported by the Australian figures he was quoting.
Sources: CarsGuide (6 Nov 2026); FCAI October 2026 release (5 Nov 2026); Elon Musk on X (6 Nov 2026); @cb_doge summary on X. Hero photo: OWS Photography / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. As of 6 Nov 2026.
— Alex R
