It’s been almost nine years since the last Australian-made Holden Commodore rolled off the production line, but new government figures have revealed that more than one million vehicles wearing the iconic lion badge are still registered across Australia.

According to the latest Road Vehicles Australia report from the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE), there were 1,000,292 Holden passenger vehicles registered nationally as of January 31, 2026. The research does not include commercial vehicles, so the number of registered Holdens would be even higher when products like the Colorado ute are included.

That number makes Holden the fourth most common passenger vehicle brand on Australian roads, behind Toyota, Mazda and Hyundai, despite local manufacturing ending in October 2017 and parent company General Motors retiring the Holden brand altogether in 2020. However, while the number of surviving Holdens remains surprisingly high, the statistics also reveal how quickly the marque is disappearing.

Rear three-quarter view of a silver station wagon on a wet surface, with visible tail lights and license plate.
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In January 2024, there were 1,186,057 Holden passenger vehicles registered in Australia, falling to 1,095,228 in January 2025 before dropping to 1,000,292 this year. In just two years, 185,765 GMH vehicles disappeared from records and the decline will inevitably continue as more examples are written off, don’t pass rego or sit neglected.

If the current rate of decay continues, the number of registered Holdens could fall below 900,000 in the next few years. But despite this, the brand continues to have more passenger vehicles registered in Australia than several established manufacturers still selling new cars, including Mitsubishi (917,678), Ford (836,433), Kia (823,647) and Nissan (808,884). Well, for the next few years, at least.

The figures show that while Holdens haven’t been sold for around six years, GMH’s enormous influence on the Australian automotive industry remains significant. It produced vehicles locally for almost 70 years, with the Commodore (1978-2020) easily its most popular model, though its huge registered vehicle population also includes cars like the Barina, Kingswood, Torana, Astra, Captiva and Cruze.

Top 10 registered car brands in Australia, 2026:

  • 1) Toyota: 3,317,413
  • 2) Mazda: 1,576,072
  • 3) Hyundai: 1,342,431
  • 4) Holden: 1,000,292
  • 5) Mitsubishi: 917,678
  • 6) Ford: 836,433
  • 7) Kia: 823,647
  • 8) Nissan: 808,884
  • 9) Subaru: 795,645
  • 10) Honda: 711,162