Toyota Motor Corporation is celebrating 25 years as the best-selling automotive brand in Australia following a record delivery of more than 223,642 new vehicles in 2021.
It is the brand’s third-highest total on record and more than the 204,801 vehicles Toyota dealers sold in 2020 and the 205,766 delivered to customers in 2019.
Toyota says it was the market leader in 1991 to 1994, then 1998 and 2000 and every year since 2003.
It is the leader in commercial vehicles since 1979 – an unbroken run of 43 years. It is also the only brand to achieve more than 200,000 sales in a year, exceeding that level in each of the past 10 years – and 17 of the past 18 years.
The 2021 result included a record 65,491 hybrid-electric vehicle sales, representing a record 29.3% of Toyota’s total.
Toyota’s market share for the past year is 21.3%. It has exceeded a 20-per-cent share 25 times during the past two-and-a-half years, an unprecedented run of success for the brand.
The Hilux (52,801 sales) retains its title as Australia’s best-selling vehicle for the sixth year in a row.
As the only Ute to be the nation’s best-selling vehicle, it has also “come of age” in the Northern Territory, leading sales there for the past 21 years while being the leading vehicle of choice in Queensland for an unbroken run of 15 years and in Western Australia for 14 years.
The RAV4 is Australia’s best-selling SUV, with 35,751 deliveries. Of these, 72.3 per cent or 25,850 examples were electrified, making it Australia’s top-selling hybrid-electric vehicle.
The Corolla (28,768 sales) is the nation’s best-selling passenger car – a title it has now held for nine years in a row.
As a result, for only the second time (2020 and 2021), Toyota has achieved the automotive equivalent of a “grand slam”: the market-leading brand, the best-selling vehicle (Hilux), and the most popular commercial vehicle (also Hilux), SUV (RAV4) and passenger car (Corolla).
The Camry (13,801 sales) has led the medium-car segment for an unbeaten run of 28 years.
It was the biggest year ever for the Landcruiser brand with almost 50,000 sales (47,932) including individual records for Landcruiser Prado (21,299) and the Landcruiser 70 Series (13,981) – and continued strong sales for the Landcruiser wagon (12,652), including the all-new 300 Series.
In addition, the Hilux 4×2, Coaster, Hiace van and Hiace bus led their individual segments in the past 12 months.
Toyota Australia vice president sales, marketing and franchise operations Sean Hanley says that, while these results are remarkable in an Australian market that is one of the most competitive in the world, Toyota continues to respect the competition and never takes its position for granted.
He says Toyota is optimistic about building on the brand’s success during the coming year.
“For 2022, given what we know right now, our target is to increase sales beyond last year’s total and maintain our market share above 20%,” Hanley says.
“We will freshen our existing line-up with the upgraded RAV4 range early this year, the Corolla Cross SUV and second-generation GR86 sports car in the second half, an update to the 70 Series workhorse, and we will also announce launch timing for our first BEV, the bZ4X SUV.”
Hanley says Toyota’s order bank remained healthy, thanking customers for their loyalty and patience, especially those who have faced extended wait times due to global supply challenges in 2021.
“We assure you we are doing everything we can to increase supply and get customers behind the wheel of their new Toyota as soon as possible,” he says.
He paid tribute to Toyota’s employees, dealers and other business partners for their support.
