Toyota sold 72,064 hybrid-electric cars in 2023 which saw them dominate the market for low emission vehicles with fleets, novated leases and private buyers.
The RAV4 hybrid changed the market when released by Toyota in 2018. It gave fleet buyers a hybrid wagon option and attracted the attention of families looking for ways to reduce their weekly fuel bills. It made hybrids cool and demand continued to grow despite supply issues causing long wait times.
At the end of 2023 the RAV4 was the top seller in the medium SUV less than $60,000 segment with 29,627 deliveries to fleet and private buyers. The nearest competitor was the Mitsubishi Outlander which is available as a petrol or plug-in hybrid (PHEV) with 24,263 deliveries.
While the RAV4 dominated the segment, it’s the number of hybrids which really stands out. Toyota reported that 86.6% of all sales were hybrid models. That’s 25,657 hybrid RAV4s that hit the roads with a combined fuel consumption of 4.8 L/100km compared to 7 L/100km for the petrol only version (AWD models).
It wasn’t only the RAV4 that had sales success with a hybrid powertrain. The hybrid share was above 80 per cent for Corolla sedan (84.3%), Corolla hatch (85.2%), and above 90% for Camry (92.3%).
Fleet buyers have been transitioning to hybrid cars since Toyota released the locally built hybrid Camry in 2009. While there was some initial hesitation to adopt the new technology a decade ago, the availability of more models, rising fuel costs, and a greater awareness of CO2 emissions from passenger cars, has convinced fleet and private new car buyers that hybrid is a genuine alternative to petrol and diesel models.
