Market Insight: Toyota RAV4 takes the lead
BY MATT BROGAN | 9th Sep 2024
TOYOTA is no stranger to the top of the sales charts Down Under, its HiLux light commercial utility challenging Ford’s Ranger for pole position for so long that it became almost expected that one of these workhorses would take number one spot.
Now, a different Toyota model has topped the charts, the RAV4 medium SUV shaking off the nation’s collective thirst for dual-cab utes with a decidedly more family-friendly flavour.
The RAV4 has just achieved its highest monthly sales in its three decades on the market, making it Australia’s best-selling vehicle again during August 2024.
A total of 6712 examples of Toyota's rival to the Hyundai Tucson and Mazda CX-5 rolled out of showrooms across the month – almost 95 per cent (6342 units) of which featured petrol-electric hybrid power.
What’s more, the RAV4 forms an impressive 31.2 per cent of all Toyota vehicles sold in August (21,490 units). That number sees the brand’s overall monthly total take a 21.9 per cent slice of the market for the month.
It is the third time the RAV4 has been the country’s best-selling vehicle this year and the fifth time overall.
August was the sixth consecutive monthly record for RAV4 sales in Australia, exceeding 6000 units in a single month for the first time. The previous record of 5933 units was set in July of this year.
The only Toyota vehicle to post a higher monthly sales figure is the HiLux with 7582 units sold in June of 2022.
Announcing its August sales tally, Toyota said that 55.5 per cent of the 11,931 vehicles delivered last month were equipped with a hybird driveline, marking the third time Toyota has achieved more than 10,000 hybrid sales in a month.
Toyota has now sold a record 81,378 hybrid vehicles this year, which represents 49.2 per cent of the company’s total deliveries.
It has also posted more than 20,000 sales in each of the past five months, lifting its eight-month total to 165,496 vehicles for an average of more than 20,000 deliveries a month so far this year.
The eight-month total is 31,749 vehicles or 23.7 per cent higher than the 133,747 vehicles retailed in the same period last year.
“Our strategy is all about offering choice to meet the needs and desire of all Australian customers, leaving no-one behind,” said Toyota Australia vice president of sales, marketing and franchise operations Sean Hanley.
“This includes our extensive hybrid range headlined by the addition of a new Camry; the space, style and comfort of our SUVs; and the ability to tow heavy loads and get off the beaten track in one of our four-wheel drives.”
Toyota RAV4 sales (August 2023 – August 2024):
|
|
Units sold
|
Market share
|
|
August
|
3317
|
18.9%
|
|
September
|
2798
|
15.1%
|
|
October
|
2589
|
14.5%
|
|
November
|
2449
|
13.2%
|
|
December
|
2192
|
14.0%
|
|
January
|
2211
|
14.9%
|
|
February
|
2843
|
16.1%
|
|
March
|
5070
|
23.5%
|
|
April
|
5857
|
32.6%
|
|
May
|
5517
|
28.1%
|
|
June
|
3907
|
18.8%
|
|
July
|
5933
|
30.4%
|
|
August
|
6712
|
31.9%
|
*Data supplied by VFACTS.
