Toyota racks up 5 mill
From humble beginnings more than 50 years ago, Toyota passes 5 million commercial and passenger sales in AustraliaToyota's fortunes may have slumped last year, but that hasn't stopped the company from passing the five million sales mark since Australian activities started in the late 1950s.
Company records show that, since the first Toyota LandCruisers went on sale in 1959, the Toyota badge has appeared on 2.9 million passenger cars and 2.1 million commercial vehicles.
Total sales topped one million in 1982, followed nine years later with a total two million sales, a further eight for three million, less than six for four million, and less than five for five million.
The biggest-selling Toyota is the Corolla, with 1.1 million sold since the first version in the late 1960s, followed by Camry with more than 740,000 total Australian sales. The LandCruiser, demonstrating how powerful a role commercials play in Toyota's market performance, snaps at the Camry's heels with slightly less than 740,000 Australian sales (Prado accounts for 155,000). Then there is HiLux at 650,000.
The history of the company shows that local Toyota operations weren't always as homogenous as they are today.
Originally commercial and passenger vehicle sales were controlled by two separate entities: Thiess Brothers for commercials and Australian Motor Industries (AMI) for passenger cars.
The Thiess brothers were in fact the first to import Toyotas into the country, when a handful of LandCruisers arrived for deployment at the Snowy Mountains Scheme in 1958.
Thiess began selling LandCruisers here in 1959, while passenger vehicle operations began with the fully imported Tiara four-cylinder sedan in 1962.
AMI began assembling Toyota sedans in 1963 (AMI at times also assembled British Triumph and German Mercedes-Benz cars in Melbourne, eventually distributing the American Rambler brand also) and by the end of the decade the Toyota brand of passenger vehicle was a recognised force on the local market.
AMI in the meantime became AMI-Toyota, while the commercial vehicle operation became Thiess Toyota in 1971. It was not until 1988 however that the organisation was unified with the formation of Toyota Motor Corporation Australia, embracing both commercial and passenger operations.
The Altona plant in Melbourne has been building Camrys since 1994 and commenced local build of the new Hybrid version this year. Not even officially on sale for two full months, that car has already sold 1390 units in the local market, according to VFACTS.
And Toyota is bouncing back from the pain of the Global Financial Crisis. VFACTS figures for March indicate that volume selling models (Corolla, HiLux, Kluger, LandCruiser 200 Series, Prado, RAV4 and Yaris) have all picked up sales for this year. Toyota has sold 51,684 vehicles for 2010, a 16.6 per cent gain on the 44,309 vehicles sold over the same period last year.
Read the latest Carsales Network news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at www.carsales.mobi
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
