Toyota HiAce vs Peugeot Expert

What's the difference?

Fact: almost one in every two mid-sized (2.5-3.5-tonne GVM) commercial vans sold in Australia is a Toyota HiAce. And if you take note of the diverse range of businesses that rely on this ubiquitous workhorse, as we did recently, you can appreciate its widespread appeal.

Apart from countless couriers and tradies, the HiAce is favoured by a vast range of businesses from locksmiths and pool maintenance specialists to window cleaners and mobile coffee baristas.

To ensure the HiAce maintains its broad business appeal, Toyota has recently released an upgraded range with enhanced active and passive safety features, improved instrumentation, electric power steering and other refinements. We recently spent a week at work with the latest offering to determine if its market dominance is justified.

Mid-sized (2.5 to 3.5-tonne) commercial van buyers have a variety of makes and models to choose from, even though most buy the venerable HiAce.

Latest VFACTS figures confirm Toyota’s long-standing dominance, as the HiAce commands just under 40 per cent market share with the remainder spread across ten competitors from Europe, China and Korea.

One of those is Peugeot’s Expert, which is available with a choice of wheelbases, transmissions and model grades. It currently represents just 1.3 per cent of sales in this segment, so we recently spent a week behind the wheel to see how it compares to the market leader.