Toyota Australia achieved two industry firsts in April 2024, with more than half the brand’s total sales being Hybrid Electric vehicles (HEVs) and surpassing 10,000 HEV deliveries in a single month.
Official figures show RAV4 deliveries to Australian customers hit a new monthly high of 5857 vehicles in April.
Of these RAV4s, HEVs accounted for 94% or 5504 vehicles – another record for the engine variant.
The previous records for RAV4 total sales (5070) and HEV deliveries (4728) were set just one month earlier.
On the back of the RAV4’s surging popularity, Toyota dealers retailed the highest number of Hybrid Electric models for any month since the company introduced the first Prius in October 2001.
The new record of 10,972 HEVs represented 52.8% of the brand’s 20,771 sales for the month – the highest share on record.
Toyota’s HEVs, on their own, have outsold every other brand in the market for the past three months in a row – and for the year so far (35,383 vehicles).
It was the first time Toyota sold more than 10,000 hybrids in any month, and its Hybrid Electric tally accounted for more than half of its monthly sales.
Toyota sold more Hybrid Electric vehicles last month alone than in any calendar year before as recently as 2018.
Including sales of the fully electric bZ4X, Toyota’s electrified share of total sales – HEV and BEV – was 53.2%.
April was the third time RAV4 had led the entire market. It achieved the feat in July 2020 and repeated it the following month when RAV4 Hybrid sales alone would have been enough to top the industry sales charts.
Toyota spokesperson Sean Hanley says the company’s global production teams, local organisation and nationwide dealer network were focused on delivering the maximum number of vehicles to customers as quickly as possible.
“Record deliveries are not a goal in themselves,” Hanley says. “They highlight the pent-up demand for hybrids and the success achieved in substantially reducing customer wait times.”
“While it would be easy to assume this result is driven by historic demand, it is not the whole picture. Customer orders in April remained high, demonstrating a growing number of Australians are seeking fuel-efficient hybrids that are practical, capable and affordable.
“We remain focused on meeting this demand. Based on our delivery plan, the average wait time for Hybrid Electric variants of RAV4, Corolla hatch, and C-HR will return to normal by the end of next month – just three to four months, if not even better.” He says.
