Seventeen months after selling its first car here, Geely has gone from brand most Australians couldn't place to a fixture of the country's top 10 sellers. The milestones tell the story: a first-ever VFACTS top-10 brand position in July 2026, a strongest-ever monthly sales result in the same month, and a 20,000th Australian delivery celebrated this week — barely four months after its 10,000th in April.
A second coming, done differently
Geely isn't entirely new to Australia — a brief first stint in the mid-2010s came and went quietly. What returned in March 2025 was something else entirely: a factory-backed operation launching straight into the hardest segment in the country, mid-size SUVs, with an electric vehicle as its spearhead.
The early signs were there. More than 600 EX5 orders arrived in the model's first month on sale, and the first 188 cars were delivered within 20 days.
The EX5 effect
The Geely EX5 — a Toyota RAV4-sized electric SUV priced from about $41,990 before on-road costs, with driving range rated up to 475km — has carried almost all of it:
- Nearly 9000 EX5 sales in 2026 alone, consistently outselling the smaller BYD Atto 3 and taking bites out of established petrol rivals such as the Mazda CX-5
- 2303 delivered in June — up 455 per cent on January — making it the country's fourth-best-selling EV that month
- 2034 units in July, eighth-best seller overall in a record July market
Not a one-car brand
The Starray EM-i plug-in hybrid super-SUV, which joined the line-up in late 2025, has grown every month of 2026 — peaking at 1204 units in June and sitting among the country's best-selling PHEVs. An even smaller electric SUV, the EX2, is the next arrival, extending Geely's reach down the price ladder.
The dealer network did the heavy lifting
Perhaps the least glamorous part of the story is the most important: Geely signed 43 dealerships across every state and territory within five months of launching — extraordinary pace for a new entrant — and attracted premium retail groups including Autosports Group (better known for Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Lamborghini showrooms), Jowett Motor Group, Peter Warren Automotive and the Tony White Group.
Why it matters
If you're shopping in the sub-$50K family SUV space, Geely's arrival means more genuinely competitive choices — and if you're watching the used market, a fast-growing fleet of 2025–26 EX5s and Starrays is already beginning to appear on sites like this one.
Geely's parent group also owns Volvo, Polestar and Zeekr, all present in Australia — which is why its engineering and safety credentials carry more weight than the badge's low local recognition suggests.
Sales figures are as reported by VFACTS-based press coverage and Geely Auto Australia at the time of writing — check current VFACTS data before relying on any figure here.
Sources: Geely Auto Australia — Geely breaks into Australia's top 10 VFACTS brands, GoAuto — Geely celebrates 20K Australian sales, Drive — Chinese car boom sees Geely sales surge by 500 per cent, CarsGuide — Geely, the secret Chinese behemoth, carsales Business — Geely hits 43 dealers in 5 months