The Toyota HiLux won’t be Toyota Australia’s best-seller much longer given Australia has passed its ‘peak ute’ phase and is moving away from the body style, says the automaker.
“You’ve heard me say it before, and you’ll hear me say it again, but we believe the ute market has reached its peak,” said Toyota Australia sales and marketing boss, Sean Hanley.
That’s despite the outgoing HiLux topping the October sales charts ahead of the Ford Ranger – with the Isuzu D-Max and Mitsubishi Triton making it four dual-cab utes in the top ten best-sellers for the month.
In fact, overall sales of utes have increased in Australia in 2025 – despite 4×2 sales slowing – with almost one-in-five new vehicles sold being a ute.
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The comments came at a press conference ahead of the new-generation HiLux reveal, with Australian sales due to start in December 2025 with diesel, battery-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell versions confirmed for local showrooms.
Yet Mr Hanley’s point comes after the Toyota RAV4 toppled HiLux in 2024 as the brand’s most popular model, with 58,718 sold against HiLux’s 53,499.
Sales of SUVs are up 6.0 per cent year-to-date, with the ‘Medium SUV’ category the RAV4 sits in up 1.3 per cent – while the light commercial segment is up 0.3 per cent.
Both segments are outperforming the overall market, which slowed by 1.1 per cent between January 1 and the end of October.
“Recent VFACTS [official sales figures] have certainly indicated that we have already seen a shift in consumer preferences, with our RAV4 taking out the title of our best-selling vehicle last year,” Mr Hanley said.
“I believe that that strength of sales has and will continue, has continued through the first half of this year,” he added.
“And even for a car that’s in run-out right now, I can tell you, it’ll continue right through to the new model – with our all-new RAV4 for arriving in the first half of next year, we expect that shift to accelerate.
“The ute market, meanwhile, has been pretty much a two-horse race [between HiLux and Ranger], but there are new players continuing to enter the market that I have no doubt will have an impact.”
That includes the Kia Tasman, which notched just 610 sales in October, as well as Chinese offerings such as the MG U9, LDV Terron 9, BYD Shark 6 PHEV and JAC T9 dual-cabs.
“But we remain confident that our Hilux will hold its own against the new competition and deliver on what Australians demand in a ute, whatever Australians may use that vehicle for,” Mr Hanley said.