1 week ago
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The new Toyota Prado is set to smash sales records in Australia, but some buyers might still be facing a 12-month wait.
Family Cars
Toyota Australia has confirmed that up to 27,000 examples of the Toyota LandCruiser Prado 250 Series will be coming to Australia over the next 12 month, but initial interest has already accounted for more than half of Australia’s allocation.
Speaking to Australian motoring media at the launch of the LandCruiser Prado – the first new-generation model in 15 years – Toyota Australia’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing Sean Hanley announced that over 17,000 orders had already been made by customers.
This means while the initial allocation of vehicles is high, strong interest from customers could outstrip demand in the coming months.
This isn’t a new experience for Toyota, which has recently launched new models like the RAV4, LandCruiser 300 Series and Kluger to extensive waiting times.
However, Hanley said a new allocation system will be implemented to help "give certainty" to customers, and avoid the possibility of extended waiting times for new models.
In particular, Toyota is looking to avoid a situation like what happened with popular models like the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid and V8-powered 70 Series LandCruiser, where waiting times were extended out to four years.
In this new method, dealers will be given a 12-month allocation of vehicles, and will be able to take deposits and place orders. Once this allocation for each dealer is exhausted, they won’t be able to place an order until their allocation is renewed.
In the meantime, dealers will be able to accept an ‘expression of interest’ from customers.
While Toyota Australia prefers this not to include a transaction of money, Mr Hanley concedes that this will be down to the discretion of each dealer.
Furthermore, Toyota Australia will be looking to crack down on dealers who accept financial incentives to move customers to the top of the queue.
Family Cars Guide
Sam Purcell has been writing about cars, four-wheel driving and camping since 2013, and obsessed with anything that goes brum-brum longer than he can remember. Sam joined the team at CarAdvice/Drive as the off-road Editor in 2018, after cutting his teeth at Unsealed 4X4 and Pat Callinan’s 4X4 Adventures.
