Toyota HiLux delays extend into 2022

If you order certain Toyota HiLux dual-cab models today, you may not take delivery until March 2022.

That’s the word from numerous Toyota dealers who, under the condition of anonymity, have confirmed to carsales that supply is extremely low for a variety of models including the top-selling HiLux SR5 dual-cab 4x4.

According to one dealer source, it would be “out of the ordinary” for buyers to get hold of a new HiLux SR5 this year.

The source said there were “a couple of SR5s still kicking around” in the national dealer network but that most deliveries of the updated HiLux would be heavily delayed.

“You’d be looking at February or March for an SR5 4x4 if you placed an order today,” the dealer source added.

HiLux is crucial to Toyota’s success in Australia, and severe supply shortages and shipping delays could see the Ford Ranger overtake it as the nation’s best-selling vehicle this year, ending a run that has been unbroken for the past five years.

All HiLux utes sold in Australia are built at Toyota’s Thailand factories, which have been hit hard by recent COVID-19 outbreaks, shutting down production numerous times.

This has been exacerbated by the global semi-conductor shortage that has seen Toyota slash global production by 40 per cent during September.

Together with increasing demand in Australia as an updated Toyota HiLux with more features and vehicle tracking tech is set to launch in October, many buyers who place an order today will have to wait between four and six months for their new dual-cab ute.

Another dealer source noted that the Thai factories were not experiencing the same delay times as Japanese factories, where Toyota RAV4 buyers are still facing an eight-month wait for their vehicles.

If production ramps up rapidly, some HiLux orders may be “lucky enough for a three-month wait” said another dealer source, which would still put customer deliveries at around late December in a best-case scenario.

Despite the extended delays, the dealer source said: “Very few people cancel their orders. Some people are happy to sit back and wait. But you have to be empathetic. People’s positions change, employment situations change… it’s not always about the wait.”