Changing of the guard? BYD Seal EV outsells Toyota Camry Hybrid

After a year on sale in Australia, the BYD Seal electric sedan overtook the popular Toyota Camry in monthly sales for the first time in December.

BYD reported 412 Seal deliveries in December 2024’s VFACTS industry sales report compared to the Camry’s 387 – the lowest monthly figure recorded for the Camry in 2024.

It isn’t the first time an electric vehicle (EV) has outsold the Camry, with the Tesla Model 3 notching 1732 sales in December, but it’s the first time the BYD Seal has pushed past the Japanese stalwart.

Despite the progressive decline in Camry sales in the fourth quarter of the year – 661, 400, and 387 sales for October, November, and December respectively – it still ended up well ahead of the Seal in overall sales for the calendar year.

Toyota delivered 15,401 Camrys in 2024, with monthly highs of 2468 in May and 2013 in June.

Meanwhile BYD delivered 6393 Seals through the year, with monthly totals remaining above 300 in all but September, while it set a monthly record of 1002 deliveries in May.

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The Seal hit Australian showrooms in December 2023 and BYD recorded 471 deliveries in its first month on the market.

In that month, Toyota recorded 1312 Camry deliveries, which means its December 2024 figure was 70.5 per cent down year over year.

In October 2023, Toyota stopped orders of the Camry in Australia in response to “extraordinary demand”, at which point it confirmed 90 per cent of prospective buyers were opting for the hybrid version of the sedan over the petrol alternative.

In December, it was reported a significant portion of those waiting to take delivery of a new Camry were switching their order to the new-generation model that had been revealed the month prior.

That new hybrid-only model arrived in September 2024 after the Camry had been unavailable to order for nearly a year year. However, during this time monthly sales for the Camry remained strong as VFACTS results are based on deliveries, and Toyota had a significant order backlog.

As such, the case with the Seal is not necessarily that its sales increased massively, but rather that Toyota is in the midst of a sales slump with its Camry.

The Seal remains one of Australia’s best-selling EVs though, even if its December sales were down on the MG 4 and both Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y.

For context, Tesla sold 17,094 Model 3s in 2024.

In VFACTS’ mid-sized passenger car under $60,000 segment, the Camry and Seal are far ahead of the third-place Mazda 6, which notched 1354 sales in 2024.

In any case, Toyota still enjoyed a strong 2024 as a whole to record a 12.1 per cent year-on-year increase in deliveries, finishing with a total of 241,296 deliveries. It’s still Australia’s best-selling brand by far.

BYD, meanwhile, ranked 17th overall, but the Seal and new Sealion 6 SUV contributed to a 64.5 per cent year-on-year sales increase as it finished with a total of 20,458 deliveries for 2024.

The two cars are similar in size – even if there’s a 120mm difference in length in favour of the Camry – but feature significantly different powertrains.

The Seal is available with single-motor rear-wheel drive and dual-motor all-wheel drive electric powertrains. Claimed driving range varies between 460km and 570km depending on the variant.

On the other hand, the front-wheel drive Camry is available with a single naturally aspirated 2.5-litre four-cylinder hybrid powertrain, featuring a continuously variable transmission (CVT).

The Seal is generally more expensive than the Camry, as its prices range from $49,888 to $68,748 before on-roads compared to between $39,990 and $53,990 before on-roads.

MORE: VFACTS December 2024 – Sales bump helps set annual recordMORE: VFACTS – The biggest sales winners of 2024MORE: Everything BYD SealMORE: Everything Toyota Camry