Toyota hybrid delays won't affect Australia, as demand surges
Yesterday at 04:00 PM
Reports of a global shortage of hybrid components will not impact local wait times for customers, says Toyota Australia.
Toyota Australia says customers will not face extended wait times for hybrid vehicles after global reports of a shortage of components, despite their popularity continuing to surge.
After a rise in demand around the world in 2024 – including Australia and the United States (US), the world's second-largest market – Japan Today has reported low stock of hybrid technology has caused extensive waiting lists.
The strong demand for tech – which saw hybrid sales increase 36.7 per cent in the US alone last year – has Toyota reportedly low on hybrid stock in the US, Japan, China and Europe.
Customers are waiting extended periods, with Japan Today saying Toyota hybrid buyers in Europe are waiting slightly more than two months on average; those in Japan up to five months with India the worst hit at up to nine months.
MORE: Toyota makes small but significant change you might not have noticed
"For hybrids, we're sold out – customers want them, we can't get enough of them," David Christ, head of sales and marketing for Toyota in North America, told Reuters in January.
“Battery electric vehicles, even with the huge incentives we're spending and the federal government's incentives, are just not as in demand."
With Donald Trump taking over as US president in January 2025, those electric vehicle incentives are now gone – further increasing sales of hybrids.
Sales of 'electrified' Toyotas – including battery-electric and hybrids – made up almost half of the car maker's 231,335 sales in North America in March 2025.
MORE: Toyota – Diesel hybrid tech is possible, but it may not make sense
Australian Toyota dealerships sold a record number of hybrid vehicles in 2024, with the car maker switching its most popular models – including the top-selling RAV4 SUV – to hybrid-only line-ups.
Toyota Australia told Drive it does not see the current wait times of around three to four months stretching any further.
"Hybrid-electric vehicles account for more than half our sales this year," a Toyota spokesperson said.
"Thanks to long term demand for hybrid-electric vehicles in the Australian market, our supply is healthy, both now and confirmed for coming months.
Customers placing an order today can expect to receive their vehicle in less than four months on average."
The vehicle with the longest wait times has been the Toyota LandCruiser Prado – one of only a few Toyota cars not sold in hybrid form, alongside the Toyota HiLux and the larger Toyota LandCruiser.
Its wait times have now settled after a considerable order bank was fulfilled upon the new-generation Prado's Australian arrival in November 2024.
MORE: New Subaru hybrid system with Toyota tech revealed, coming to Australia
Elsewhere, bottlenecks in the supply chain in North America are also under further threat from US import tariffs coming into effect on April 3, 2025.
While made in Japan for Australia, the RAV4 hybrid is built in Canada and the US for North American showrooms
News of the tariffs accelerated new vehicle sales in the US over the past weekend as buyers looked to avoid paying higher prices, tipped to increase by as much as $US12,000 ($AU19,000) per vehicle.
The post Toyota hybrid delays won’t affect Australia, as demand surges appeared first on Drive.
