Toyota has become the first carmaker to sell 100,000 Hybrid Electric vehicles (HEVs) in Australia in a year, achieving the six-figure total in the 12 months to June 30.
The market leader delivered a remarkable 100,761 HEVs for the year.
The record hybrid tally means Toyota hybrids attract more customers than the total sales of any other brand in the new-car market.
RAV4 led the hybrid charge over the past 12 months with a new high of 38,632 deliveries, representing 93.1 per cent of the popular SUV’s record 41,512 sales.
Strong hybrid totals were also recorded by Corolla (20,375), Camry (16,872), Corolla Cross (7,876), Kluger (7,311) and Yaris Cross (6,077).
Toyota Australia Vice President Sales, Marketing and Franchise Operations Sean Hanley said the latest sales figures reflected the vast improvement in supply by global production teams over the past 12 months.
“We always knew that supply constraints were masking the true level of demand for Toyota vehicles, especially hybrids,” Mr Hanley said.
“Substantially higher production this year has enabled us to deliver 121,298 vehicles to the end of June – 31.5 per cent higher than the 92,235 vehicles we delivered in the same period last year.
“The true significance of this improvement is that our dealers have been able to satisfy, on average, an additional 1,117 customers a week by delivering their new Toyota vehicle in the first half of 2024.”
Shorter average wait times for hybrid models are now around three months for C-HR, four months for RAV4, 5-6 months for Corolla and Yaris Cross, and 7-8 months for Kluger and Yaris. Among other models, HiLux has also improved to 3-4 months and LandCruiser 300 is under 6 months. These times can vary depending on a customer’s location and the vehicle specification they have chosen.
Mr Hanley said Toyota’s order intake had confirmed that natural demand for hybrids would inevitably push their sales to 100,000 vehicles in a year.
"Importantly, the stock keeps coming – and our order intake remains strong," he said.
In the first half of 2024, HEV deliveries reached a record high of 56,759 cars, accounting for 46.8% of Toyota’s total sales. Adding the bZ4X BEV and Mirai FCEV brings Toyota’s electrified share to 47.3 per cent in 2024. In June alone, Toyota delivered more than 10,000 electrified vehicles or 48 per cent of its 20,903 tally for the month.
RAV4’s sales in 2024 have risen almost 88 per cent to 25,404 vehicles of which 23,934 or 94.2 per cent are hybrids. In June alone, the RAV4 hybrid share was 96.6 per cent.
Toyota announced last month that, due to customer demand, it is no longer taking orders for petrol-only variants of RAV4 and all other models where HEVs are available.
HiLux remains Toyota’s best-selling vehicle this year with 28,515 sales made in the first half of 2024, including a record of 24,980 HiLux 4x4 variants. HiLux led Toyota’s June result with 5,630 deliveries.
