Hilux ute heading for number one

• Read our review of the new Toyota HiLux here

Toyota is looking to import more Hilux utes to satisfy unprecedented demand for the all-new vehicle that is on target to top the sales charts in 2016.

In unveiling the new Hilux to the media earlier this month Toyota predicted it would sell about 40,000 of the 31-model range each year.

However the company admits that target is likely to be smashed, with about 5000 orders expected just in the first few weeks on sale.

"Because the demand level is so much higher than what we anticipated … it makes us re-evaluate where we think we might go [with how many cars we order]," said Toyota Australia executive vice president of sales and marketing Tony Cramb.

"We think we might get to 5000 orders this month … that's 30 or 40 per cent more than we had anticipated in the first month."

However Cramb said the company had not decided how much to increase its order by, saying the company needed to look closer at where buyers were coming from.

"We've got to work out is this people going 'finally, after 10 years you've brought the car to market, that's fantastic' or is this something that's going to continue."

Cramb said Toyota would make a decision by the end of the month with the view to satisfying what is unprecedented demand for a ute once considered a workhorse.

"The worst thing you can do is overreact and oversupply, so we've got to make that judgement."

The top selling car since 2011 has been the Mazda3 and Toyota Corolla, with sales in the low-40,000 each annually. However sales of traditional passenger cars are softening – the Mazda3 and Corolla included – and typically being replaced by SUVs.

While Toyota was initially coy about the chances of the Hilux topping the sales charts – the first time a ute would have done it in a calendar year - Cramb now admits it is a distinct possibility.

"We weren't thinking that way [number one] at all, but maybe it is – maybe it's bigger than what we anticipated."

The news comes off the back of Toyota admitting it had underestimated demand for the new Fortuner four-wheel drive, a car based on the underpinnings of the Hilux. Toyota is also trying to increase orders of the Fortuner, although supply from the factory is proving challenging.