Diesel is critical to regional Australia, says Toyota
Why it matters: The country's biggest carmaker has just said publicly that regional and rural Australia still runs on diesel, with nearly 54 per cent of HiLux and LandCruiser family buyers living outside the major cities. For everyone who tows, farms or works off the bitumen, that's Toyota saying your fuel isn't going anywhere in a hurry.
Toyota Australia's sales vice-president John Pappas says customers "still need diesel in regional and rural Australia" and that Toyota does not want to "leave them behind". Speaking to CarExpert, Pappas pointed out that close to 54 per cent of combined HiLux and LandCruiser family buyers live outside the big metropolitan areas, where a battery-electric vehicle may simply not suit the job, whether that's towing, touring or a tool of trade. The backdrop makes the comments more striking, not less: VFACTS figures to the end of September show diesel sales down 25.5 per cent year on year, with diesel's market share easing from about 33 per cent to 24.3 per cent, while hybrids grew 11.4 per cent and September EV and PHEV sales more than doubled. Ranger and HiLux both slipped about 10 per cent. Yet Toyota, which launched a battery-electric HiLux in May and plans a hydrogen fuel-cell HiLux for Australia in 2028, is still backing diesel for the bush. The electrify-everything road, it turns out, has a lot of corrugations once you leave the city limits.
Source: CarExpert · 8 October 2026 · VFACTS September 2026 figures as reported.