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News - Market Insight - Market Insight 2025Market Insight: Big expensive SUV boom overBut large premium SUV segment shows resilience as Aussie luxury car market settles20 Oct 2025 By MATT BROGAN AUSTRALIA'S premium large SUV segment has posted modest growth of 3.3 per cent through the first three quarters of 2025, signalling a continued cooling of the dramatic expansion witnessed during the post-pandemic boom years.
The large SUVs over $80,000 segment recorded 19,871 sales to 30 September, up 632 units from 19,239 at the same point in 2024, remaining in positive territory against an overall market down 1.4 per cent, edging the segment’s share of the broader market up from 2.1 to 2.2 per cent year-on-year.
Between 2020 and 2023, large SUV sales in the Q1-Q3 reporting period almost doubled, from 12,095 deliveries to 21,369, growth that was not attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic as segment volume in Q1-Q3 of 2018 was a relatively modest 13,611 units, reducing to 12,489 sold in the same part of 2019.
Established premium players continue to drive the segment, with stalwart models from German and Japanese manufacturers posting solid gains.
Audi has sold 1068 examples of the Q7 to 30 September, up considerably from 583 units at the same time last year, while BMW recorded 2764 sales of its X5, up 18.4 per cent.
Lexus achieved 1574 sales of the RX, up 1.5 per cent, while Mercedes-Benz moved 318 examples of the GLE Coupe, up 10.4 per cent, and 1379 of its GLE Wagon, up 27.9 per cent.
However, several manufacturers are experiencing headwinds in the premium segment.
Sales of the family-sized Volvo XC90 declined by 8.3 per cent, with just 158 buyers moving towards its electrified EX90 model (although a revised XC90 has just hit the market), while Porsche saw downturns in the number of buyers shopping its Cayenne Coupe and SUV, down four per cent and 22.1 per cent respectively.
Jaguar Land Rover is experiencing mixed results across its Defender (+25 per cent), Range Rover Sport (+6.7 per cent), and Range Rover Velar (-1.4 per cent) lines while sales of remaining Jaguar F-Pace and I-Pace stock has been expectedly slow as the brand prepares to reboot.
The Maserati Levante declined 84.4 per cent and the battery electric Lexus RZ dropped 76.4 per cent while Kia’s EV6 – questionably categorised here – suffered a dramatic 78.2 per cent decline to just 320 units as buyers wait for the facelifted version.
Kia’s upscale sister brand Genesis also continued to struggle in this segment, the GV80 Coupe managing just 56 sales in the reporting period, down 29.1 per cent, while its wagon counterpart notched up 151 sales, down 22.2 per cent.
Ford's Mustang Mach-E electric offering – another model to have a tenuous position in this segment – recorded 314 units sold to 30 September, or 42.3 per cent fewer than at the same time in 2024
BMW's iX electric SUV and Audi's recently axed Q8 E-Tron equivalent are also down, -3.6 per cent and -73.0 per cent respectively as both brands achieved greater success with their internal combustion engine large SUVs, with promising growth shown across the X6 and Q8 lines.
Audi managed 359 sales of the Q8, an uptick of 9.1 per cent while BMW recorded 600 sales of its X6 to the end of the third quarter, up 5.1 per cent.
2016–25 Large SUV over $80,000 sales*:
*All sales data supplied courtesy of VFACTS  Read more13th of October 2025  Market Insight: A record year in the making?Third-quarter sales a usual indicator of full-year performance – but what about 2025?6th of October 2025  Market Insight: Volvo upbeat amid sales slideVolvo Car Australia optimistic that wave of new BEVs will reverse recent sales slump22nd of September 2025  Market Insight: Small SUV segment sales soarAustralia’s third-largest segment by sales, small SUVs is poised to keep on growing |
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