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Toyota New Zealand remains New Zealand’s leading brand in 2024
Toyota New Zealand is celebrating a year of milestones and achievements in 2024, once again cementing its position as the leading automotive brand in New Zealand and reinforcing its commitment to excellence, sustainability, and community partnerships.
For the 37th consecutive year, Toyota New Zealand retained its title as the country’s number one car brand, a reflection of the trust and loyalty Kiwi drivers have towards the Toyota name and its vehicles. Sales of new vehicles for the 12 months to the end of December 2024 were strong at 31,520, despite being a difficult year for the automotive industry in New Zealand. The Toyota RAV4 continued its strong performance, maintaining its position as New Zealand’s best-selling passenger vehicle, and being voted People’s Choice in the AA DRIVEN Car Guide 2024 NZ Car of the Year awards, with the Toyota Hilux coming third in the same category, and the 2024 Toyota C-HR winning best City SUV.
Tatsuya Ishikawa, Acting CEO of Toyota New Zealand, says these results highlight Toyota’s enduring connection with New Zealanders, ensuring the company is offering vehicles that resonate with Kiwis, as well as furthering Toyota’s electrification targets.
“At Toyota New Zealand, we are incredibly proud to have earned the loyalty and trust of drivers for so many years. Being New Zealand’s number one car brand is an honour, and the success of the RAV4 this year shows that Kiwis value vehicles that deliver reliability, performance, and practicality,” says Ishikawa.
“The fact that all three of our award-winning vehicles are available in hybrid powertrains, and only available as hybrid powertrains in the case of the RAV4 and C-HR, highlights that customer preference for lower emitting vehicles was also aligned with vehicle quality.
Electric vehicles made up 77.2% of new vehicles sold in 2024. As a result, Toyota’s average CO2 grams per kilometre was down 5% to 156 at year’s end. This was supported by the introduction of the marques first fully electric bZ4X and Hilux Hybrid in 2024, and a cap placed on number of Toyota Hilux available.
The Toyota Signature Class and Toyota Certified used vehicle brand have continued to thrive, known for their high quality and dependability. In 2024, 10,158 used vehicles were sold, an increase of 39% on 2023.
Throughout 2024, Toyota New Zealand retained a strong focus on its sustainability journey, reaffirming its commitment to carbon reduction targets. This includes action across Toyota’s operations and focusing on reducing the lifetime carbon emissions of the new vehicles it sells and continuing to progress sustainability initiatives at its National Customer Centre in Palmerston North, and across its Toyota Store network.
“Our focus is not only on delivering great vehicles but also on creating a better future for New Zealand. Sustainability remains at the heart of everything we do, from improving the efficiency of our vehicles to reducing our operational footprint,” says Ishikawa.
A significant moment for the company was the reinforcement of Toyota’s reputation as a trusted brand when it was named New Zealand’s most reputable brand in the Kantar Corporate Reputation Index (CRI) in early 2024. Established in 2015, the CRI uses Kantar’s RepZ framework to assess standardised reputation attributes of a business across trust, leadership, fairness, and responsibility. For the last decade, Toyota has been recognised as New Zealand’s most reputable car brand, however 2024 is the first time it has been awarded the overall top spot.
“Being recognised as New Zealand’s most reputable brand reflects our deep commitment to serving our customers, upholding responsibility, and driving innovation,” says Ishikawa. “It is also reflective of the deep connection our 60 Toyota Stores across the country have to their local communities. Toyota takes a proactive approach to anticipate and address customer needs before they arise, as well as supporting communities to prosper, and demonstrating leadership both within our industry, and the New Zealand business sector more broadly.”
Toyota New Zealand also celebrated Emirates Team New Zealand’s successful defence of the America’s Cup, continuing a partnership that began over 30 years ago, when Toyota joined its first America’s Cup campaign in 1992.
The company’s Toyota Brand Guardians—Dame Lisa Carrington, Cameron Leslie, Emma Twigg, and David Liti —demonstrated sporting excellence on the global stage at the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, continuing to inspire New Zealanders through their remarkable achievements.
“We are proud to stand behind organisations and athletes who strive for excellence,” says Ishikawa.
“Our partnerships reflect our values of teamwork, dedication, and innovation, which are shared by Toyota and all of those we support.”
As Toyota New Zealand reflects on an outstanding 2024, it remains focused on empowering customers, advancing sustainability, and contributing to communities across Aotearoa.
“We are excited to continue delivering vehicles and solutions that meet the needs of New Zealanders while working to create a cleaner, more sustainable future,” concludes Ishikawa.
“This year’s achievements would not have been possible without the continued support of our customers, partners, and our dedicated team across the country.”