"It sends a powerful message": Toyota says HiLux, Ford Ranger and Isuzu D-Max's diesel dominance in 2023 proves it is right on electric vehicles in Australia

Toyota Australia says the more than 155,000 sales accrued by Australia's top-three-selling vehicles, all of which are diesel-powered dual-cab utes, suggests its "multi-pathway" plan to reach carbon neutrality is the right one.

Speaking while announcing the brand's end-of-year sales results –another massively dominant performance in which the Japanese giant outsold its nearest rival by more than two to one – Toyota's VP of sales and marketing, Sean Hanley, said the ongoing success of diesel utes in Australia sends a "powerful message".

While the Toyota HiLux lost its best-selling crown to the Ford Ranger in 2023 (63,356 sales versus 61,111), the pair managed more than 124,000 sales combined.

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Adding to that the Isuzu D-Max, which finished third overall with 31,202 sales, lifts the total diesel dual-cab sales to more than 155,000 just across the three best-selling models.

"It's a dose of reality, of course," says Toyota's VP of Sales and Marketing, Sean Hanley.

"The market determines reality, not car companies. It sends a powerful message that Australian consumers want the capability. The job of the manufacturers is to bring that capability with a reduced carbon footprint.

"It's incumbent on manufacturers to bring a vehicle with capability that can deliver and that will be desirable. That's our job. And you know what? We have a social and community responsibility to do that.

"And that's why we talk about Fuel Emission Standards and multi pathway. Some interpret it as Toyota being anti-BEV. No, we're not. We are just being real. We're being honest with the market and the position.

"It's incumbent on us to bring vehicles to market in the future that reduce our carbon footprint, but still deliver the capability that Australians want. And that's why we talk about leaving nobody behind.

"Imagine if today you only had BEVs, where are those 150,000 people going to go? What are they going to do?"

Mr Hanley bristles at the idea that Toyota is anti-EV, telling CarsGuide the brand's first EV will launch in Australia in February, and that every commercial vehicle will be electrified by 2030. It's important to point out here that the incoming 48-volt system being fitted to the HiLux this year doesn't count towards that goal.

Mr Hanley says the brand is also a staunch supporter of fuel emission standards, saying: "Toyota supports the introduction of mandatory fuel standards that are ambitious, that are calibrated to the Australian market, (and in which) car makers to determine the appropriate mix of technologies to achieve it."

"There's no change to our commitment to introduce some form of electrification for each of our commercial vehicles by 2030. So you can expect that SUVs and passenger cars would of course be part of that, except in GR. So we are not altering our multi-pathway strategic direction at all," Mr Hanley says.

"Next month we launch our first BEV, the bZ4X, which I'm excited about because it sends a clear message that you know what? Toyota's not anti-BEV," he says.

"We want to play in that market. We want to be part of it. We're excited by it. We just don't see it as the single golden bullet to carbon neutrality. The multi-pathway is still our strategy, but we're excited to be coming into the BEV market, because we know it plays a part."