Toyota claims hybrid vehicles are now a mainstream choice for Australian motorists following record sales in 2012.
Local drivers bought a record 13,919 hybrid vehicles in 2012 – an increase of 57.8% year on year. Industry data showed almost 44% of hybrid vehicles were bought by private customers last year compared with under 29% in 2011.
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Toyota sold over 10,000 hybrids in a year for the first time – or more than three-quarters of all sold in Australia. The 10,787 Prius and Camry models delivered in 2012 accounted for almost 5% of the automaker’s 218,176 sales.
In passenger cars, Toyota’s hybrids outsold Audi and came within 500 units of BMW.
Toyota has sold over 40,000 hybrids in Australia since the first-generation Prius in 2001.
Last year, the Camry achieved record annual sales of 7,107 vehicles and was Australia’s best-selling hybrid.
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By GlobalDataThe hybrid version alone sold 1,143 cars in December, outselling Ford’s entire Falcon line.
The c was was the most popular Prius with 1,883 sales. The v saw 936 sales and the hatchback ‘original’ made 861 sales.
Lexus sold over 2,300 hybrids in 2012 – about one third of total sales.
“The growing popularity of hybrid cars shows they are now regarded as a mainstream choice for local motorists due to a combination of their performance and their excellent fuel economy,” Toyota Australia sales and marketing head Matthew Callachor said.
“In passenger cars, hybrid sales were up 61.1% last year compared with growth of just less than 1% for diesels.
“Significantly, the number of private buyers opting for hybrid passenger cars more than doubled while those choosing diesel passenger cars fell 6.8%.”
