Toyota Australia says it will not turn incoming vehicle supply into a BYD-style shipping spectacle, despite securing another 10,000 vehicles for local customers and lifting its 2026 sales forecast beyond 230,000 units.

Asked whether Toyota would make a public media event out of the extra allocation arriving in Australia, John Pappas, Vice President, Sales, Marketing and Franchise Operations, Toyota Australia, told CarSauce: "No, that's not our style."

The comment follows BYD's recent local publicity push around the BYD Zhengzhou, which docked in Melbourne carrying 4802 BYD and Denza vehicles.

"We're very grateful, the fact that we've got very strong customer demand," Pappas said.

"We're not about trying to get headlines around the extra production."

"For us, what's important is not the numbers game and the PR thing."

"It's all about for us reducing lead times for our customers."

Toyota lifts 2026 forecast as extra supply arrives

Toyota's latest forecast has risen from a 210,000-unit base to 220,000 units, and now to more than 230,000 sales for 2026.

Pappas said Toyota had secured an extra 20,000 vehicles over the past couple of months, including the latest 10,000-unit uplift.

"The real effort we've made, together with TMC, in order to get the extra 20,000 cars in the last couple of months," Pappas said.

"Because we're at a 210 [thousand] base."

"Now we're at 230 [thousand]."

Toyota says the lift is largely tied to stronger supply and demand for the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, Toyota RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid, Toyota bZ4X, Toyota HiLux and Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid.

Average wait times across the Toyota range are now between three and six months, according to Pappas.

"We think that's a fair lead time, considering demand is stronger than supply," he said.

"So now we're balancing it a lot better with that extra stock coming in."

The update builds on Toyota's earlier 2026 allocation increase, when CarSauce reported the brand had secured 10,000 extra vehicles for Australia.

Toyota expects 2026 to be the sixth year in its Australian history above 230,000 sales if the forecast is achieved.

The company also expects the Toyota HiLux and Toyota RAV4 to remain its two best-selling models for a seventh consecutive year.

The RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid is expected to play a notable role despite arriving with a shorter selling window than the regular RAV4 Hybrid.

Pappas said Toyota was planning to sell more than 40,000 new RAV4s in 2026, with the plug-in hybrid expected to account for about 30 per cent of RAV4 sales.

"That is a very big number, considering that we're really planning to do more than 40,000 RAV4s this year," he said.

Toyota is also expanding its electrified and alternative-powertrain line-up, with seven powertrain types now offered across its Australian portfolio: petrol internal combustion, diesel internal combustion, efficiency hybrid, plug-in hybrid, battery electric, fuel-cell electric and performance hybrid.

Pappas said Toyota expects about 39 per cent of its 2026 sales to come from efficiency hybrids, 5 per cent from the RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid and 4 per cent from battery-electric vehicles.