Toyota is once again the best-selling car brand in Australia.
The company finished 2020 with a whopping 22.3 per cent market share, having sold 204,801 cars last year.
Although the HiLux was once again the best-selling car in Australia with 45,176 delivered, it’s far from the only sales success Toyota enjoyed.
Not only did it own the light-commercial vehicle segment, it led the SUV market with the new RAV4 (38,537 sales) and the passenger car market with the Corolla (25,882) in what Toyota Australia vice president of sales and marketing, Sean Hanley, dubbed a “clean sweep”.
Consider these facts:
- Toyota owns 20.7 per cent of all passenger car sales in Australia
- It owns 20.4 per cent of all SUV sales in Australia
- It dominates the light commercial market, with a 32.1 per cent share
- A staggering 89.9 per cent of all hybrid sales in 2020 belonged to Toyota
- Five of the top 10 sellers in Australia last year were Toyotas
Here’s how Toyota dominated each part of the Australian car market in 2020.
Passenger cars
A total of 222,103 passenger cars were sold in Australia during 2020, of which 46,071 were Toyotas.
As mentioned earlier, that’s a 20.7 per cent market share.
| Sales | Growth/decline in 2020 | Segment share | Position in segment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corolla | 25,882 | -15.1 per cent | 24.2 per cent | First |
| Camry | 13,727 | -18.1 per cent | 68.3 per cent | First |
| Yaris | 5027 | -49.0 per cent | 13.9 per cent | Second |
| 86 | 387 | -31.9 per cent | 6.5 per cent | Sixth |
| Granvia | 276 | N/A | 28.8 per cent | Second |
| Prius V | 272 | -64.1 per cent | 0.3 per cent | 13th |
| Supra | 198 | -39.4 per cent | 5.7 per cent | Fifth |
| Tarago | 124 | -79.9 per cent | 1.8 per cent | Seventh |
| Prius | 95 | -47.2 per cent | 0.1 per cent | 18th |
| Prius C | 83 | -80.0 per cent | 0.2 per cent | 11th |
The Corolla is comfortably Toyota’s best seller, and was well clear of the Hyundai i30 (20,734 sales) in second place. Even combining sales of the now-defunct Elantra (1520) with those of the i30 don’t elevate it above the Corolla.
The second-best seller, the Camry, also dominates its segment. It’s the only mid-sized or large sedan achieving significant sales volume, sitting well ahead of the Skoda Octavia (2111 sales) and Mazda 6 (1727).
Finally, the outgoing Yaris was this year run out and the significantly more expensive new model rolled out, and it maintained second place in its class behind the MG 3 (7158 sales) but ahead of the Kia Rio (4952).
Passenger cars being run out in 2020 include the Prius C, Tarago, and 86 sports car.
The Tarago was replaced by the Granvia, while the role of the Prius C has been adopted by the Yaris hybrid.
SUVs
A total of 454,701 SUVs were sold in Australia during 2020, of which 92,746 were Toyotas.
As mentioned earlier, that’s a 20.4 per cent market share.
| Sales | Growth/decline in 2020 | Segment share | Position in segment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAV4 | 38,537 | +58.8 per cent | 25.2 per cent | First |
| Prado | 18,034 | -1.6 per cent | 19.8 per cent | First |
| LandCruiser | 15,078 | +9.2 per cent | 84.2 per cent | First |
| C-HR | 8500 | -9.4 per cent | 8.7 per cent | Fifth |
| Kluger | 8403 | -26.1 per cent | 9.2 per cent | Second |
| Fortuner | 2883 | -4.9 per cent | 3.2 per cent | 12th |
| Yaris Cross | 1311 | N/A | 4.6 per cent | Sixth |
The dominance of the RAV4 is truly staggering. It was the best-selling SUV in Australia, and outsold the Mazda CX-5 (21,979 sales) and Hyundai Tucson (15,789) by a huge margin. In fact, it outsold them when their figures are combined.
The Prado received an update for this year, with more power from its engine and a revised standard equipment list. The nearest car to it in its class? Toyota’s own Kluger, naturally.
Meanwhile, the LandCruiser 200 Series might be approaching the end of its life, but it still utterly dominates the petrol-only Nissan Patrol (2820 sales) in the sales race. Expect strong sales of the outgoing model before the 300 Series lobs next year sans the current model’s diesel V8.
Also updated for 2020 was the Fortuner, while the C-HR was the first Toyota model to add a GR Sport model in Australia. Expect the Yaris Cross to leap up the sales charts, having launched late in 2020.
Light commercial vehicles
A total of 205,597 light commercial vehicles were sold in Australia during 2020, of which 65,984 were Toyotas.
As mentioned earlier, that’s a 32.1 per cent market share.
| Sales | Growth/decline in 2020 | Segment share | Position in segment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HiLux 4×4 | 34,766 | -4.3 per cent | 22.8 per cent | Second |
| HiLux 4×2 | 10,410 | -8.1 per cent | 39.1 per cent | First |
| LandCruiser 70 | 10,064 | +9.1 per cent | 6.6 per cent | Fifth |
| HiAce van | 8931 | +37.0 per cent | 39.6 per cent | First |
| HiAce bus | 2027 | -21.3 per cent | 90.7 per cent | First |
| Coaster bus | 326 | +15.6 per cent | 100 per cent | N/A |
The HiLux remains Australia’s best-selling car. The 4×2 model was the best-selling ute in its class, well ahead of the Isuzu D-Max (4343 sales) and Ford Ranger (3084).
Although the Ranger toppled the HiLux in the 4×4 sales race with 37,889 sales, the HiLux 4×4 was well clear of the Mitsubishi Triton (15,649 sales) that followed it.
Toyota this year gave the HiLux one last update to keep it fresh in the face of competition from the new Isuzu D-Max and Mazda BT-50, updated Nissan Navara, and constantly-evolving Ford Ranger.
Elsewhere, the HiAce finished well clear of the Hyundai iLoad (3919 sales) and Ford Transit Custom (2379) for sales in 2020, while the LandCruiser 70 Series ute/cab chassis managed to grow its sales.
Hybrids
A staggering 89.9 per cent of all hybrid sales in 2020 belonged to Toyota, which managed to sell 54,335.
The Big T now offers hybrid power on the following cars:
- Yaris
- Yaris Cross
- Corolla
- C-HR
- Camry
- RAV4
It will this year introduce the Kluger with hybrid power as well, which will go head-to-head with hybrid versions of the Kia Sorento and Hyundai Santa Fe.
“The most significant sales achievement of the year for Toyota was this,” said Sean Hanley. “Australian motorists bought our hybrid vehicles in record numbers.”
“Our plan for 2020 was for hybrids to represent 20 per cent of our sales,” Mr Hanley said.
“In the end, the figure was 26.5 per cent – more than a quarter of all Toyota sales, [and] a far cry from the 3.9 per cent we achieved as recently as 2017.”
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