VFACTS April: Toyota RAV4 on top as hybrids drive record market

Auto industry sales growth continues as Toyota drives buyer demand for new hybrid cars and SUVs

As the number one car brand, the Toyota RAV4 has achieved a record number of 5,857 sales in one month pushed the entire market higher in April than ever before.

VFACTS industry figures released today show Toyota achieved an emphatic 20,771 sales across its broad stable last month, up 72.7 percent year-on-year and ahead of the Japanese automaker by 45.4 percent year-to-date 77,009. sale tucked away in the red corner.

RAV4 overtook the Ford Ranger to take bragging rights as the country’s most popular car of the month, while three other Toyota models featured prominently in the top 10: HiLux (third, 4693), Corolla (sixth, 2097) and Camry ( eighth, 1873). ).

The LandCruiser 300 Series (1169) and Corolla Cross (1180) also played a role in Toyota’s incredible sales of 10,072 SUVs in April, an increase of 85.9 percent.

In part, the phenomenal growth reflects Toyota’s poor sales early last year, caused by severe supply constraints for its ever-popular models, hampering performance and testing the loyalty of customers – some of whom had to wait three years. only for RAV4 Hybrid.

Many of these supply lines are now opening up, and with long-awaited deliveries filtering through the dealer network, Toyota is supporting booming hybrid car sales and preparing the industry for another record year overall.

Just as electric car sales growth depends on the monthly performance of Tesla, which fell to 13th position last month (2077, -43.5%) and industry-wide electric vehicle sales rose 5.1 percent towed to 6194 units, Toyota brings hybrid cars to new technologies. heights.

Toyota’s hybrid range

One in two Toyotas sold in Australia is now hybrid, and last month that number reached almost 11,000, bringing hybrid car sales across all brands to 16,466 units (+194.5%).

As a result, hybrids accounted for a significant 16.9 percent of total new vehicle sales in Australia in April, compared to electric cars (6.4%), plug-in hybrids (1.3%), diesels (29 .1%) and petrol cars (41.7%) – the latter is still the dominant fuel type, but is moving towards hybrid.

Overall, the sector posted its sixth consecutive record monthly result in April, with sales of 97,202 units – up 18.3 percent year-on-year and increasing since the start of the first four months to 14.4 percent, based on 401,654. sale.

That’s 50,515 units more than this time last year and places the industry in uncharted territory.

Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux
isuzu dmax zixw

Announcing today’s results, Tony Weber, CEO of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), said: “We are witnessing a shift in consumer preferences towards more sustainable and efficient vehicles.

“April’s result underlines strong consumer confidence in purchasing new vehicles, which is exceeding our expectations, and is a testament to consumer choice and the industry’s resilience in a challenging economic landscape.”

SUVs (54,135, +17.6%) accounted for 55.7 percent of all new vehicle sales last month, compared to light commercial vehicles (21,413, +25.5%) at 22.0 percent and passenger cars (17,314, + 14.0%) with 17.8 percent. cents.

Mid-size SUVs, led by the RAV4, are the largest segment, boosted by 21,811 sales last month (+11.4%), while utes of all types (the popular 4×2 and 4×4 utes and full-size American pick-ups) were in second place with 19,376 units – an increase of 28.4 percent thanks to a rise in diesel 4x4s such as Ranger (+61.5%), HiLux (+43.0%), Isuzu D-MAX (+32.9 %) and the new Mitsubishi Triton (+37.0%)).

Battle of the brands behind Toyota

Ford consolidated second position in the market behind Toyota with 8,648 sales in April (+71.3%), not just thanks to Ranger (5569), but the related Everest large SUV (2400), which came fourth behind HiLux in the top 10 models.

Mazda finished third overall with more moderate growth (7301, +5.4%), maintaining a lead over Kia (6653, +7.3%) and Mitsubishi (5314, +19.7% ) in the top five.

Neither Mazda nor Kia had individual performance excellence, and while the revival of the Triton (1287) is crucial for Mitsubishi, the mid-size SUV Outlander (1848) keeps the three-diamond brand in a solid position amid fierce competition between established and ambitious middle class people. -tier brands.

Ford Ranger and Everest

These include Hyundai (5185, -9.5%), which stumbled badly during last month’s boom to finish in sixth place, and Isuzu Ute (4256, +46.6%) – still a major player with D- MAX (2380) and MU-X. (1876), the ute and large SUV ranked fifth and seventh respectively in the top 10 last month.

Two Chinese brands finished in eighth and ninth place overall in April – ​​MG (3781, +9.2%), with the ZS (1701) among the top models in the country and achieving positive returns through heavy discounts, and GWM (3330, +50.3%), which is going from strength to strength in the fast-growing GWM Ute, Haval, Tank and Ora model lines.

Subaru completed the top 10 (3246, +29.3%), leaving Nissan (2905, -3.5%) and Volkswagen (2838, -4.0%) behind.

Tesla’s drop to 13th place (2077, -43.5%) comes due to fewer deliveries of Model Y (1166) and Model 3 (911), although the company held on to its bragging rights to the prestige brand – BMW (2074 , +18.5%) was wearing down its reputation, while Mercedes-Benz (1625, -23.7%) lagged further behind.

Tesla model 3

Top 10 brands (2024 year to date):

Top 10 models (April 2024):

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    Mitsubishi Outlander – 1848

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