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Simply put, there’s no other automotive brand like Toyota in Australia. Not only is it number one on the sales chart for new car buyers, it’s achieved that feat for the past 20 years.
Why is it so? Product choice, for one; if an Australian family is looking for a new car, then Toyota generally makes an appearance on the list of final choices.
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That product portfolio still spreads across a wide swathe of categories, too.
Many of Toyota’s key rivals have beaten strategic retreats from particular sectors as demand and pricing awkwardly collide, leaving the Japanese company to scoop up small but important volumes across its suite of vehicles.
It doesn’t hurt, either, that Toyota has leveraged decades of series hybrid experience to produce a range of cars that are light on fuel consumption compared with its key rivals, and which have proved problematically popular across the board.
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JUMP AHEAD
New & familiar models
New models
Next-generation Toyotas
The current mix of Toyota models varies in age, but there are a couple of key cars that are due for generational change.
Chief among them is the Corolla, Camry and RAV4, with all three drawing close to the end of their respective model cycles.
Others, including the Prado and C-HR, are nearly upon us, with new versions due within the next eight to 12 months.
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Electrification complications
Toyota, rightly or wrongly, has been copping it from all sides for its perceived lack of interest in taking its place in the rush towards new energy vehicles, and in particular battery-electric vehicles.
The company has robustly defended itself on a number of occasions, while a recent change at the top of the corporate tree has broken the ice on a number of plans for the world’s biggest carmaker to add EVs to its roster.
Let’s have a look at the model changes in more detail.
Yaris & Yaris Cross
The fourth-generation Yaris was launched mid-way through 2020, so its replacement is some time away.
The question is whether Toyota will follow the lead of other car makers and abandon a sector where increasingly stringent safety and emissions standards means higher build costs and thinner margins.
The Yaris was the first compact car to adhere to more stringent ANCAP five-star safety standards that included the addition of a front/centre airbag, but it added significantly to the car’s retail price, which has hurt sales in a category where the ANCAP-unrated MG 3 rules the roost.
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The Yaris Cross also landed in 2020 and has proved quite the success in a crowded segment.
The range was bolstered with the arrival of the Yaris Cross GR this year, which is only available with a mild hybrid petrol/electric drivetrain.
While there’s no news at the moment about a new Toyota Yaris or Yaris Cross, it’s likely that the success of the latter may mean the end of the line for the former later this decade.
C-HR
Revealed in 2023, the new C-HR made its Australian debut in March 2024.
In its second generation, the C-HR is now supplied from Europe, with only hybrid powertrains on offer. It's not cheap, but it could prove very popular with style-focused singles.
Read our Australian launch review at the linked story above.
Corolla
The story is similar for one of Australia’s perennial favourites, the Corolla.
The current MY23 Corolla facelift was revealed last year, suggesting the next generation car could still be a year or more away from debut.
With that in mind, buyers might best anticipate an early or mid 2024 unveiling for what will be its 13th generation, with an Australian launch to occur in late 2024 or early 2025.
It’ll likely offer an evolution of Toyota's TNGA architecture, along with updated petrol and hybrid drivetrains.
Corolla Cross
The Corolla's high-riding sibling, the Corolla Cross, is barely a year old in the local market.
It has hit the ground running, though, which bodes well for its continued presence here.
Will the Toyota Corolla Cross ever replace the Corolla? We doubt it. Unlike the Yaris, the Corolla is a mainstay on government and private business fleets, and it’s still very popular with a rusted-on group of legacy customers both here and overseas.
It currently dominates sales in the small car segment by some margin, and also outsells its SUV relative quite comprehensively.
RAV4
Looking at the timeline of Toyota’s best-selling SUV, the RAV4 is due for a model update in 2024, with an on-sale date in Australia sometime in the first half of 2025.
What can we expect from an all-new Toyota RAV4? Well, for a start it won’t be all new… The TNGA platform it currently rides on debuted underneath the current car, so notwithstanding a mild tweak or two, it will certainly run underneath the next-gen RAV4.
The same goes for powertrains, though rumblings from the US suggest that the non-hybridised version of the 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine will make way for the series hybrid tech that now graces the majority of RAV4s sold in Australia.
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The fact the new Prado will be sold only with mild-hybrid drivetrains is a big clue, as well.
Styling-wise, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Toyota designers softened a few of the hard edges of the current visage, in line with cars like the Yaris Cross and Corolla Cross, though the visual clues of the striking new Prado may well trickle down to the smaller RAV4.
Kluger
The large Kluger SUV is in line for a mid-life design refresh within the next 12 to 18 months, having debuted in latest-generation form in 2021.
It was updated for 2023 with Toyota’s new 2.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine displacing the old 3.5-litre V6 to join the four-cylinder hybrid, so updates for the Kluger – the nation’s best-selling monocoque-bodied large SUV – are likely to focus on exterior styling tweaks and interior upgrades.
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Looking further down the road, the next generation of Kluger may ditch the turbo petrol engine to offer solely mild-hybrid or series-hybrid powertrains.
Don’t expect an all-new model before 2026, though, at the very earliest.
Oh, and if you’ve heard about a larger seven-seat Kluger on sale in the US, the Grand Highlander, we can tell you that it’s only being built in America in left-hand-drive, and it’s not destined for Australia. Sorry.
Prado
You should know all about the 2024 Toyota Prado by now!
Due here early in 2024, the Prado is now built on the same platform as the LandCruiser and as a result is bigger in every direction.
It will be powered by just one type of engine in Australia – Toyota’s ubiquitous 2.8-litre four-cylinder diesel, though supplemented by a 48-volt mild-hybrid system.
LandCruiser
Given that the mighty LandCruiser LC300 is barely two years old, don’t expect any fundamental upgrades from Toyota for some considerable time yet.
Updated with the Sahara ZX and GR Sport variants, the LC300’s supply levels are improving, too.
HiLux & Fortuner
The dual-cab utility space has been re-energised in Australia with the launch of Ford’s latest Ranger, along with its twin the Volkswagen Amarok, while new metal is coming from rivals like Mitsubishi.
While Toyota’s HiLux battles it out for the 'best-seller' spot every month with its Blue Oval foe, it’s clear the HiLux’s next reboot can’t come fast enough.
The model life of a HiLux is typically longer than that of a Toyota passenger car; the seventh-generation version, for example, ran over nine years from 2004 to 2015, which morphed into the current car.
We wouldn't rule out a new-generation Toyota HiLux being revealed some time in 2024, though Wheels sources have strongly indicated it won't be seen in showrooms before 2025.
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2023 Toyota HiLux GR Sport
What can we expect from the 2025 Toyota HiLux?
While Toyota is yet to confirm it, expect to see a version of the company’s most recent ladder-frame platform, the TNGA-F, underpinning it.
The TNGA-F frame currently rides underneath vehicles like the 300 Series LandCruiser and the incoming Prado, as well as the large, US-based Tacoma ute in the US.
This means that the next HiLux will be taller, longer and wider than the current version. As well, the newer platform will enable Toyota to incorporate hybrid-compatible gear like electric motors and 48-volt batteries, and potentially even larger plug-in style batteries.
The mild-hybrid system will debut in the current model next year; it’s an unusual move to update such an old model, and a GR Sport variant was released in September 2023, but it shows the speed at which the car game is currently moving… and Toyota is guaranteed to sell every single one it builds.
The Fortuner is a success story in Australia after a relatively slow start, so it’s safe to assume that there’s a second-generation 4x4 wagon being developed in conjunction with the ninth-generation HiLux.
GR86
Sports cars wax and wane with the economic tides, and while the global outlook is relatively bleak, Toyota looks set to keep the faith with its faster cars.
The two-door GR86 launched in 2022, so it’s got a long time to go before it’s due for a refresh (the original 86 lasted about a decade). There is some noise about a turbocharged version arriving during this life cycle, which does make sense on a couple of levels, but it’s very much a wait-and-see proposition.
Supra
It’s a different story for the Supra, which is built on the bones of BMW’s Z4 in Austria.
The 2024 Toyota Supra will be the last ICE-engined version of the storied nameplate, with reports suggesting a limited-edition 400kW-plus GR Supra will send the swoopy coupe off with a BMW M4 CSL-rivalling flourish.
For 2025, a battery-electric version of the GR Supra is set to be revealed, with preliminary reports suggesting it will retain its two-door, rear-wheel-drive coupe layout.
New models
Tundra
Looking to cash in on the popularity of the big Yank ute here in Australia, Toyota Australia is working hard on a localised version of the US-sourced Tundra.
To get there, it's partnered with Walkinshaw Automotive Group to locally convert the biggest truck in the Toyota stable to right-hand-drive.
With the Tundra now based on the same TNGA-F platform as the 300 Series LandCruiser, the task will be made easier, with the team able to poach RHD parts that are already in production.
While it’s not a lock, the 2024 Toyota Tundra is already creating a stir with punters, especially those looking for a rig that can potentially tow 4500kg or more
BZ4x
Toyota's first all-electric model, the BZ4X electric SUV, has finally made its Australian debut.
Drive configurations include front- and all-wheel drive, and In the case of the former, there's a single big front-mounted motor providing motivation. But, where other brands use all-wheel drive as a welcome excuse to add a lot more power and speed, the AWD version of the BZ4x will swap the big single motor for two smaller ones – one at the front and one at the rear – to develop similar overall power.
That means there’s a 150kW motor in the FWD model, which is fairly close to standard – but only two 80kW motors in the AWD for a total of 160kW.
Both versions pack a 71.4kWh battery system, with the FWD model offering 516 kilometres of driving range. As with all AWD EVs, the all-wheel-drive model will give you surety, but reduce driving range to 460 kilometres.
Urban SUV concept due for production
Toyota will enter the affordable EV space in 2024 with a production version of the Urban SUV concept unveiled in Europe today.
The baby battery electric vehicle (BEV) will be the smallest of six electric models that will be offered in Europe by 2026.
Reported dimensions of a 4.3-metre length, 1.8m width and 1.6m height place it between the company's Yaris Cross and C-HR combustion small SUVS, and make it a natural rival for the Hyundai Kona Electric small SUV.
MOREElectric SUVs
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