2016 Toyota Hilux sees unprecedented demand in Oz

2015 Toyota HiLux 4×4 SR5 double cab

Only recently was it introduced Down Under, and already demand for the eighth-gen Toyota Hilux seems to be overwhelmingly positive according to Drive. Sales of the truck, or ute Down Under, is said to be more than on target in terms of sales for 2016.

Toyota Australia previously estimated that it would sell some 40,000 units of the Hilux annually. Now, the company expects orders to reach 5,000 within the first couple of weeks since it was officially introduced, a number higher than what it initially forecasted.

“That’s 30 or 40% more than we had anticipated in the first month,” says Tony Cramb, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Toyota Australia. He added that the company might “re-evaluate” the total number of cars to order from Thailand, due to the unexpected higher demand.

Cramb noted however that the company would take a cautious approach to understand “where buyers were coming from” before proceeding on with the order. “We’ve got to work out is this people going ‘finally, after 10 years you’ve brought the car to market, that’s fantastic’ or is this something that’s going to continue,” he said.

“The worst thing you can do is overreact and oversupply,” he explained, further adding that an official decision was expected to be made by month’s end. The Toyota Fortuner was another vehicle in which Toyota Australia had underestimated its demand, apparently. The company is said to be increasing its orders of the Hilux-based SUV, although supply is reportedly proving to be challenging.

In Australia, customers get a choice of over 31 different variants of the Hilux to choose from, eight more than before. The variants are classified as the Workmate (entry-level), SR (mid-spec) and the SR5 which is the top-range spec. In addition, the Hilux features over 60 accessories for customers to choose from.

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