Toyota Australia sells its 6 millionth vehicle in the country, where it has been the best-selling brand for 18 years, including the last 12 in a row.
Australians have bought 3.5 million Toyota cars, more than 1.7 million light-commercial vehicles and 830,000 SUVs since the automaker launched sales in 1958. Toyota estimates more than 3.7 million of the vehicles, or about 62%, are still registered with many more unlicensed but operating in rural areas.
Toyota didn’t sell its 1 millionth vehicle in Australia until 1983. By contrast, the latest 1 million sales were posted in less than five years between March 2010 and January this year.
Local assembly of Toyota vehicles by Australian Motor Industries began in 1963. In 1972 Toyota bought out British Leyland’s interest in AMI.
Toyota announced last year it will end local production in 2017.
The automaker has 13 nameplates that have achieved at least 100,000 sales in Australia, headed by the Corolla, Camry, HiLux and LandCruiser. The Corolla accounts for about 37% of the total with 1.3 million sales since its introduction in 1967. It has been Australia’s best-selling vehicle for the past two years.
Other popular models the Camry (857,000), Yaris (192,000) and a stalwart that sold from 1964-88, the Corona (354,000). Almost half of Toyota’s LCV sales carry the HiLux badge (840,000), while the LandCruiser (426,000) and HiAce (295,000) are other prominent contributors.
The arrival of the RAV4 (233,000) in 1994 is credited with kick-starting the popularity of SUVs. Since then, Toyota’s other major SUVs have been the LandCruiser Prado (228,000), LandCruiser wagon (238,000) and Kluger (118,000).
Toyota Sales and Marketing Executive Director Tony Cramb says the Toyota success story can be attributed to its customer-focused reputation gained by establishing dealers and service centers throughout the country.
