SUV sales soar despite fuel costs
August 1, 2008 by George Skentzos
Soaring fuel prices have certainly forced buyers to reconsider their priorities when looking at a new car; however Toyota has labelled the small car dash a simplistic approach to the problem.
The company’s senior executive director sales and marketing David Buttner has said that these generalisations ignore the strong growth in sales of sports-utility vehicles (SUV).
The sales of these SUV’s has increased by 13.2 percent for this year alone – making it the fastest growing segment at a rate of more than treble the overall market.
“Rising fuel prices have definitely accelerated demand for fuel-efficient four-cylinder cars,” Mr Buttner said. “However, families and other SUV buyers are focused on requirements such as space, comfort, performance and reliability – as well as fuel efficiency,”
Australian motorists purchased almost 110,000 SUV’s in the first half of this year – with 20 out of 23 manufacturers improving over the same period last year – second only to the small-car total of 123,000.
Toyota leads this sales list with its Prado, Kluger and RAV4 models which take the top three positions in a segment which offers over 50 models.
SUV SALES BY MODEL 2008 (TO 30 JUNE)
1. Toyota Prado 7,854 +4.8%
2. Toyota Kluger 7,513 +278.7%
3. Toyota RAV4 7,684 +6.7%
4. Ford Territory 7,266 -19.4%
5. Subaru Forester 6,910 +13.2%
6. Toyota LandCruiser 6,407 +48.0%
SUV SALES BY MARQUE 2008 (TO 30 JUNE)
MARQUE SALES +/- MARKET SHARE
1. Toyota 29,458 +40.2% 26.9%
2. Nissan 10,852 +0.2% 9.9%
3. Subaru 10,707 +6.2% 9.8%
4. Ford 8,417 -20.2% 7.7%
5. Mitsubishi 7,841 +0.7% 7.1%
SEGMENT 109,669 +13.2%
Print it: 
Golfschwein, sorry mate.
People are free to have what ever opinions about toyota’s or whatever. But when they pull fact’s out of their arse and pull them against well documented historically ones, that just ruins the whole point of this forum!
By the way, Landcruiser is just a name.
And hilux is a brilliant ute, and it does shares some engines (albeit differently tuned) and some suspension parts. But it is a totally different platform to the land cruiser 120. And only idiot would argue against that given the wealth of information available!!
Realcars, entertain me What doesn’t it make it a 120 series landcruiser?
If it’s any consolation I think the Hilux Prado is better value than the Hilux Turd.LOL.
Better yet,
Grow some balls, and join the forum and post the pics up of your rust bucket. I’ll happily discuss it there.
Better then flooding the unrelated blog here!
I am off!
Is is anything u want it to be Thomas69!
Goodnight and thanku.
Anyway, I’m off for the day,
Lucky your on here, if you said that to me in real life, you’d be lying on the floor right now, all massed up, coughing out your teeth!! :-)
The AU might be ugly but at least I know what it is.LOL.
I doubt that very much.LOL.
My brother is planning to trade his 4cyl petrol hilux in on an RTV ute. He’s realised he doesn’t really need 4WD, just something with decent ground clearance and the diff lock could possibly come in handy. The main reason is he sees me getting 500-750km to a tank in my AU where he gets 450 – 500kms in his Hilux.
Toyota’s rediculous resale is actually a plus in this situation, he will likely come out with enough for a gas conversion if the RTV isn’t e-gas already.
Yeah,I was looking for an Egas RTV but the Egas version hardly come up for sale. So cheap to run people must hang on to them.
About resale u pay a lot for a 4×4 hilux new in the first place.
Threatening someone with physical harm on the internet?
Watto_cobra, don’t get your panties in a knot!!
I don’t do threats, if this real life, it would be more case of a “I was watching the ant crawl across the table, while realcars massed himself up…” heheheh :-)
Some of these Toyota owners are a sensitive lot, perhaps that is why most of their SUVs don’t leave the suburbs.
The Kluger is based on a very outdated platfrom. It is the same platform that the Aurion\Camry (same thing) is on. It is outdated and is why those cars come nowhere near other makes in regard to road-holding and handling. It is also why Toyotas are boring and bland to drive……
Toyota bring out a “new” model but really its just a re-hash of old ones………. they put an Aurion badge on a Camry and call it a new car !!!!!! what a joke!!!!
With the current rush for small cars Toyota are doing well but it wont last………..
I have personally driven the following jap softroaders/SUVs Kluger,CRV, RAV4 and xtrail for extended periods (hire cars). And due to them being FWD or FWD based AWD their handling was/is skittish, nervous and dangerous. They also have bad understeer and torque steer and it would be unsafe to swerve a roo as you would most likely roll over.
The market for softroaders stipulates that they should be able to be a family run about during the week and cater for adventure pursuits on the wkend. ie. driving out to a national park for hiking, kayaking etc. Kluger,CRV, RAV4 and xtrail are inadequate for this as their uneasy dynamics makes them unsafe to handle the small windy roads.
Thats why I reccomend softroaders with good handling dynamics such as Landrover Freelander, Subaru Forester, Suzuki grand Vitara and Ford Territory.
And heres a selective quote from Drives BRUCE NEWTON “Toyota Kluger…. Lacks Territory’s handling finesse”
Realcars, sorry but you are wrong the Prado is not a Hilux derivative. End of story.
Big Jim, if you think the Grand Vitara has superior on road dynamics to an X trail or Rav4 you must have a strange idea of what good handling is. While i would agree the suzuki is superior off road that doesn’t make it better on road. And i have done more in these than just hire one. The Forester certainly is one of the better on road handlers, but its low clearance does limit its off road ability. As for the Freelander… i just hope the new model is more reliable than the old one. Theres a joke in the motor industry about the base model freeladers being worth more than the upscale models because theres less bits to fix on them.
Quote Tomas79 ” Bavarian Missile Says: “Thats it Realcars seems the grey nomads are also responsible for buying the rest in the Toyota range too! “
In other words “Toyota; the wise mans choice!!”
Reply no just shows there as boring as we say they are!
Quote Tomas79 “Bavarian Missile Says: “Having owned a couple of Landcruisers bought for carrying excess children”
What a hypocrite, and you been going on about turag tractor types for weeks!!
Reply hahaha well I have no idea what a Turag tractor is {do a Toorak Tractor though}As our gorgeous Watto said it was also used for towing a show car around in a purpose built trailer for it,sold the cruiser when we moved into the suburbs.
Quote “Come on, it’s not like you know enough about 4wds to tell the difference, let alone pick what one is suited for what!! By the way, the Prado is a Landcruiser 120!!
Reply Mate I was driving the West coast of Tasmania {real 4×4 driving } when you were still at school! Prado is a poor mans Landcruiser more suitable for the city types like you !
Realcars hope you reported Tomas for his threat against you.
I’m surprised the Honda CRV didn’t make it to this list, I see them all the time when I’m out on the roads!
Bavarian Missile, Seriously I don’t know why you keep on posting on here, since obviously you don’t know much about cars do you?!!
Bavarian Missile Says:“Reply hahaha well I have no idea what a Turag tractor is {do a Toorak Tractor though}As our gorgeous Watto said it was also used for towing a show car around in a purpose built trailer for it,sold the cruiser when we moved into the suburbs.”
Nah, you said it your self, it was primarily an van alternative for the kids!! So what if you occasionally pulled something, I’m sure you could have pulled it in something else just as well!!
Bavarian Missile Says: “Reply Mate I was driving the West coast of Tasmania {real 4×4 driving } when you were still at school! Prado is a poor mans Landcruiser more suitable for the city types like you”
So what if you are a grey nomad, obviously you don’t know much about off-roading. And don’t make any stupid assumptions about me either, I guarantee I have seen much more off-road action in Australia and overseas, over more type of terrain, then you could have thought possible!!
And as for a poor man’s land cruiser…. I have no idea what land cruiser you are referring to??!! Like I said, the Prado is a land cruiser itself!! Anyway I’d waste my time even trying to debate that stupid comments with you, since you wouldn’t know any of the attributes that make an 4wd important, nor how the land cruisers compare to each other, let alone other 4wds!!
After owning a Territory AWD 6 speed auto for 12 months now,and travel 34 k`s a day on dirt roads, and having owned several Jap soft off roaders, i feel convinced that Aussie soft roaders designed for Aussie conditions, although a cliche, is the only way to go and the Japs still need to do a lot of work on theyre traction control systems,vehicle stability controls and brake distribtution systems.I admit that these systems take away the common sense factor of driving but i can clarify 1 point.In the Ford, They DO WORK!!!
I must admit I am somewhat biased, having witnessed a neighbour roll her Nissan X-trail at about 50kph trying to avoid a dog which ran onto the road.
Tomas Ive been posting on this site for over 12 months as your the new comer and clearly dont understand the term Toorak Tractor it you that has a limited knowledge of car talk and understanding.
In regard to owning a Landcruiser for Towing and carting 4 kids around at the time and you suggesting I could have used something else almost refers to the fact you wouldn’t recommend buying one. Even to tow occasionally doesn’t mean you shouldnt purchase the best tow vehicle you can afford that was a new Cruiser at the time and as the trailer was covered in fully and holding a $100,000 GT Falcon the option of using a VAN is hardly a safe one or smart one!
Me a Grey Nomad hahaha,Im blonde and dont fall into the baby boomer category sorry!How does that give me no knowledge of Off Roading though,do I have to pass some sort of test ? Tasmania has some of the Worlds best wilderness experiences equal to any in Europe,so your bragging rights of living in Europe are just that,at the age of 29 years how long have you lived in Australia for, let alone the amount of driving you’ve done in a life time! Love to know how much time you’ve lived in the City ,Ive done 12 years in W.A half of that in the Goldfields and traveled around Australia numerous times!
Prado is still a Prado and a Landcruiser is a Landcruiser,simple as that argue till the cows come home if you wish too over that point!
In regard to the price of fuel to fill the Cruiser………how times of changed use to fill both tanks for $100 but paying for fuel has never been a big issue especially at that time when we owned a mechanical workshop
so it was all claimable.
Prado is only a Prado in australia, and maybe parts of the asian pacific!!! In europe it’s land cruiser, and land cruiser 100 / landcruiser 200 series are referred to as Landcruiser V8, or landcruiser amazon (and other variations depending on the country you are in)!!
At the moment in australia, you can buy Landcruiser 70,76,79,120,200.
And there is still a lot of landcruiser 40’s,60,90’s,100,105s around.
If i want to look international for parts, to mod my prado, i dont look for prado’s, i look for LC120!!
But like i said, it’s only a name!!
Bavarian Missile Says: ”
August 4th, 2008 at 1:26 pm In regard to the price of fuel to fill the Cruiser………how times of changed use to fill both tanks for $100 but paying for fuel has never been a big issue especially at that time when we owned a mechanical workshop
so it was all claimable. ”
Yes, i agree, especially since the prado has 180L fuel tank, and last time i have refueled it costed me roughly $2 a liter for BP ultimate Diesel. But luckily I have managed to go for last 3 weeks without refueling.
Even though it’s a 50Km journey to work one way, and last weekend i had a short 3 hour offroad session with a mate.
But today, i’ll definately need to refill, but it’s good to see the prices have gonee down a fair bit!
subaru did in fact produce the first SOFT ROADERS! as all the 4wd wagons previous to that were big heavy 4wd trucks, not actually based of a car or car chassis, hence the word soft roader because they dont have a separate chassis, so the original 4wd leonie wagons in the seventies were the first official soft roader suv,s and everyone else has copied this formula from subaru…
Big Jim, for starters the AWD Kluger is NOT FWD based. It is in fact constant AWD with a front rear 50:50 torque split with a limited slip diferrential.
As for your comment that its handling was/is skittish, nervous and dangerous, and as it’s uneasy dynamics makes it unsafe to handle the small windy roads of a national park, what a load of codswallop.
If you can’t get it right stay off this site.
the service centre still has my car and no closer to fixxing problem. im getting worried about the long term reliability of the vehicle due to the fault finding, there pulling the car apart, wiring looms etc to find the electrical fault causing EMS VSC ABS faults.i wonder how long i gotta wait to get kluger back. its fast becoming a regrettable purchase.