Toyota won’t be giving Tesla headaches on the electric car sales charts in Australia this year.
It’s expecting to sell around 1500 bZ4X electric SUVs in the next 12 months which, based on 2023 sales figures, would have it sitting between Cupra and Hyundai for electric car sales.
It also pales in comparison to the ~7200 hybrids it delivered in Australia during January 2024 alone.
That figure includes the vehicles Toyota Australia will own as part of its new Full Service Lease program, which will debut on the bZ4X in a bid to woo customers concerned about its residual values.
Toyota Australia vice president of sales and marketing Sean Hanley told media there’s the “capacity to get more” if demand is strong, but the brand is “not being aggressive” with the initial rollout.
Mr Hanley said Toyota has already taken “more than” 122 orders, and has received more than 7000 expressions of interest for the bZ4X.
Pricing kicks off at $66,000 before on-road costs for the base front-wheel drive, making it $600 more expensive than a Tesla Model Y rear-wheel drive, while the range-topping model costs $74,900 before on-roads.
The entry-level bZ4X FWD is around $8000 more expensive than the range-topping (and strong-selling) RAV4 Edge Hybrid AWD, which is a similar size.
MORE: Everything Toyota bZ4X
MORE: 2024 Toyota bZ4X price and specs
MORE: Toyota details full service leasing for bZ4X
