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Extra 1500 Toyota 86 cars on the way

Extra cars will cut through waiting lists that had grown to more than four months for some 86 models.

More than 1500 extra cars will flood Australia from December, cutting through waiting lists that had grown to more than four months for some 86 models.

The extra cars will come after a high-level mission to Japan this week to free extra supplies of high-demand cars in Australia, headed by the 86 but also including the HiLux ute and FJ Cruiser.

But the news is not as good for anyone waiting for a Subaru BRZ, the near-identical twin of the 86, as the waiting list in local dealerships now stretches to November 2013 and Subaru Australia has failed in its efforts to get any extra cars.

"We're getting over a year's allocation for three months. The extra cars start to arrive in December and will continue through to March," a jubilant Matt Callachor, sales and marketing chief of Toyota Australia, reveals exclusively to Carsguide.

"Our original allocation this year was 250 cars a month, or 1500 for the year. We're now looking at an extra 1800 in those three months." Fans of the 86 are likely to renew their pressure in Australia with news of the extra cars and Callachor is not promising any major reduction in waiting times.

"I don't know that the waiting time will go down dramatically. But there have been people who didn't want to wait," he says. "It really depends on the model. The high-level GTS is currently out to more than four months but for the GT it could be as little as six weeks."

Waiting lists have been common for Toyota buyers in Australia over the past year, particularly after the natural disaster in Japan and flooding in Thailand that cut supplies of the HiLux. The popular ute has just had a five-month run as Australia's best selling vehicle once supplies were restored to normal, although it lost number one in September to the Mazda3 that was the country's favourite car in 2011.

"There was a long delay on HiLux but it's under control now. The FJ Cruiser was also in short supply but we're now delivering between 270 and 300 cars a month," says Callachor. The appeal to Japan came as Toyota Australia pushes for an all-time showroom record in a year when overall sales are now tipped to top 1,000,080, more than enough to trump the previous record result.

"We said we want to top 200,000, well and truly. So we negotiated heavily for more cars," Callachor says. The plea for extra 86s was helped by certification delays in several Asian markets, which means some Australians will be driving cars originally allocated to other countries.

And Callachor says the extra local deliveries should also help the ongoing supply of the 86, which has already become a cult car and is the early favourite for this year's Carsguide Car of the Year award.

"It gives us an additional benefit because our monthly sales rate will be higher in the first quarter next year and we'll have a better negotiating position. So we should get more than 250 cars a month after this, through the remainder of 2013," he says.