Toyota Australia expects huge EV sales boost

The Toyota bZ4X has been a bit of a wallflower in the mid-size electric SUV segment, but its sales are expected to quintuple this year.

Last year, Toyota Australia delivered just 1041 examples – up 6.6 per cent on the year before, but less than a tenth of the BYD Sealion 7’s tally.

“The updated model that we recently introduced has been received very, very well… Based on this positive response, we are planning to deliver 5000 bZ4Xs this year,” Toyota Australia vice president of sales, marketing and franchise operations, John Pappas, told Australian media including CarExpert.

That’s out of a total of over 200,000 vehicles the Japanese brand is forecasting it’ll deliver overall in 2026. It delivered 239,863 vehicles last year.

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Based on last year’s sales figures, this target for the bZ4X would see it become Australia’s fourth-best selling electric vehicle (EV) and the third best-selling electric SUV.

Last year, the Tesla Model Y led the sales charts with 22,239 deliveries, followed by the Sealion 7 (13,410), Tesla Model 3 (6617) and Kia EV5 (4787).

Toyota has already delivered 840 bZ4Xs in the first quarter of this year, putting it well and truly on track to eclipse its 2025 result by mid-year, though it’s still behind the Kia EV5 (1148).

The bZ4X has left its Subaru Solterra twin in the dust. The Subaru is sitting at just 149 sales year-to-date, despite a 246.5 per cent increase in sales.

Prior to the bZ4X’s (delayed) launch in Australia in early 2024, Toyota had said in August 2023 it expected to deliver “several thousand cars in 2024”, only to revise this number down in January 2024 to just 1500 vehicles. It ended up delivering 977 examples in 2024, followed by 1041 in 2025.

Toyota cut prices across the bZ4X lineup by up to $10,010 as part of a facelift for 2026, despite the company having said in July 2024 it had no plans to slash prices.

This mid-life update brought a new 74.7kWh lithium-ion battery and new electric motors delivering more power, torque and electric range.

The bZ4X also received an exterior refresh, including a version of Toyota’s latest ‘hammerhead’ family face, plus more standard equipment including a larger 14.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system.

The mid-size electric SUV will be joined by the related bZ4X Touring in May, with a more traditional wagon silhouette. Mr Pappas didn’t provide any sales targets for this model.

Toyota confirmed back in 2023 that it would be one of the three EVs released here by 2026, with the other being the HiLux EV.

Like the bZ4X, the bZ4X Touring will have a Subaru twin here: the Trailseeker. It’s due to arrive during the second quarter (April to June) of this year.

Toyota Australia’s EV lineup will continue to grow, with the C-HR+ small electric SUV due here in 2027.

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