Toyota Australia said it had "paused" order taking for Camry hybrid variants "due to extraordinary demand that has seen 90% of customers of the popular mid size sedan opt for the petrol electric models".

"Despite substantially improved supply since May [across the full vehicle range], including Camry hybrid, the broad appeal and high level of orders for these fuel-efficient cars has resulted in customer wait times remaining above two years," the company said in a statement.

Sales chief Sean Hanley said: “I want to assure all customers we are doing everything possible to increase supply for Australia and to expedite delivery of vehicles as they arrive.”

“Our global production teams have consistently adopted countermeasures that have improved the supply of components affected by global shortages, such as semiconductors,” he added.

In the nine months to 30 September, new Camry deliveries reached 7,130 vehicles of which 6,490 were hybrid variants.

Toyota Australia began Camry hybrid production in 2009 but ended Australian manufacturing in 2017 when it closed the Altona (Melbourne) plant, switching its entire model line to fully imported vehicles, sourced mainly from Japan.

As the Australian subsidiary was announcing the Camry order hiatus last night, the parent company in Japan said it had extended its domestic production shutdown to 10 assembly lines at six plants due to component shortages following an explosion this week at a key supplier.