Toyota pauses sales of Camry Hybrid

TOYOTA Australia has indefinitely paused orders for hybrid versions of its popular Camry medium sedan following what it says is “extraordinary demand” that has seen 90 per cent of customers opt for a petrol-electric variant.

Intentional or not, the timing of Toyota Australia’s announcement – within hours of Toyota USA issuing a teaser image of what appears to be a heavily updated Camry – has invited speculation that the order pause was prompted by waiting times threatening to overlap with the introduction of a replacement model.

Toyota Australia says “the broad appeal and high level of orders for these fuel-efficient cars has resulted in customer wait times remaining above two years”.

As a result, the entry-grade Camry Ascent petrol (from $34,320 plus on-road costs) is now the only variant available in Australia.

The news comes despite earlier advice that substantially improved production had stemmed the supply of “most of Toyota’s new vehicle range”, including the Camry hybrid.

“I want to assure all Toyota customers that we are doing everything possible to increase supply for Australia and to expedite the delivery of vehicles as they arrive,” said Toyota Australia vice president of sales, marketing and franchise operations, Sean Hanley.

“Our global production teams have consistently adopted countermeasures that have improved the supply of components affected by global shortages, such as semiconductors.

“Throughout this journey, we are particularly humbled that our local customers have maintained their trust in Toyota and remained loyal to our brand.”

Loyal or not, Toyota’s most recent “sales pause” will test the patience of its customers.

A pattern whereby Toyota is taking orders for more vehicles than it can supply has emerged across several model lines in recent times – including the HiAce, HiLux, LandCruiser 70 Series, LandCruiser 300 Series and RAV4 – despite the company’s best efforts to grow production to meet demand.

Toyota Australia has yet to comment on whether the most recent order pause will affect its lofty targets for 2023.

Last month, Mr Hanley told GoAuto that Toyota Australia is on track to smash sales records, predicting second-half sales will drive the 2023 calendar year total to northward of 225,000 vehicles.

“Now that we’re well into the second half of the year, I can tell you that it (supply) is only going to get better – and by better, I am talking about our ability to reduce wait times for our loyal and indeed patient customers,” he said at the time.

“Last month (August), we delivered a record 22,321 vehicles, breaking a mark set 16 years ago. This result was not a one-off. We have been able to secure substantial production for the rest of the year and well into 2024.

“In fact, we expect to average more than 20,000 vehicles per month for the balance of 2023.”

In the nine months to September 30, new Camry deliveries totalled 7130 units, of which 6490 were hybrid variants.

Year-to-date sales (to September 30) show Toyota has delivered a total of 154,659 new vehicles to Australian customers – more than any other manufacturer.

However, that number is down significantly on last year’s figure of 176,410 units (-12.3 per cent), indicating perhaps that the call of a record second-half may have been somewhat premature.

2023 Toyota Camry pricing* and availability:

*Pricing excludes on-road costs.