6 new Toyotas coming to South Africa – and their expected launch dates
During its annual State of the Motoring Industry address, Toyota announced plans to introduce new vehicles in South Africa over the course of 2024.
Citing monetary and structural challenges such as an elevated repo rate, depreciating Rand (13% down on the dollar last year), a record-breaking 332 days with load shedding, and up to a five-week backlog at the country’s ports, TSAM’s President and CEO, Andrew Kirby, made clear that this negatively impacted GDP and therefore concomitantly business confidence as well.
This was reflected in the automotive sales for the year – the first quarter started off really positively, and the industry was on track to achieve the 570,000 units sold prediction for 2023.
However, sales started to stagnate, especially after the second half of the year, and this means that the final tally for the year was 532,098 – just 0,5% up on 22’s numbers.
Nevertheless, there are still some positives – South Africa is seen as a very competitive car market, as evidenced by the number of new entrants that entered the market last year.
Even more compelling was the number of new individual models that were added – the big increases coming in the most popular segments, namely B and Sub-B, which saw an additional 12 new variants (an indicator of the appetite for vehicles at the affordable end of the market), five in Double Cab and a staggering 29 in the Extra Heavy Commercial Vehicle space.
The latter is directly attributable to the logistical issues facing South Africa, particularly in rail transport.
In line with global trends, South Africa experienced heightened demand for New Energy Vehicles with a 65% volume increase in 2023, but this is off a relatively small base – the total number of NEVs sold totalled 7,693. As expected, by far, the biggest volume of contributors came from hybrid variants (84%).
Interestingly, Toyota bucked the negative retail trend in South Africa by ending off the year with 142,612 units, which was not only the highest volume sold since 2007 but also equated to the company’s best market share on record.
Toyota has been the best-selling automotive brand in South Africa for 44 years; it’s also the only manufacturer with representation in just about all segments of the new vehicle market.
New models
Considering Toyota’s popularity, Kirby noted six new models coming to the country over the course of 2024 and 2025.
The next 12 months will see the arrival of mild-hybrid versions of Hilux and Fortuner, as well as the new Land Cruiser 70 Series and the upcoming and face-lifted Prado.
Additionally, The bZ4X and electric Lexus RZ will debut domestically in 2025. Toyota noted that details such as pricing will be announced closer to the time of each respective launch date.
The six new Toyota cars and their launch dates are listed below.
Toyota Land Cruiser 70 Series – February 2024
Mild-hybrid Toyota Hilux and Fortuner – March 2024
Toyota Hilux GR-Sport III – March 2024
Toyota Prado – April 2024
Lexus RZ – January 2025
Toyota bZ4X – During 2025
Read: How much you need to earn to afford the cheapest Audi, BMW, and Merc in South Africa
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