Toyota RAV4 dethrones dual-cab utes as best-selling vehicle in Australia

Steven Bradbury doesn't need much of an introduction but just in case you were living under a rock in 2002, he was the winner of the 100m speed skating gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City after a final corner pile-up among more favoured rivals.

The Toyota RAV4 seems to have inherited some of Bradbury's luck, with the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger, which often hog the top steps of the new vehicle sales podium, tripping over their own supply issues.

The dual-cab pair have consistently been trading blows for the top spot on the sales charts, but were usurped this month by the RAV4, which brought home more than 4000 registrations.

In total, 4309 RAV4s were registered by Toyota, putting it more than 1000 units clear of second and third for July.

For reference, the Hilux registered 2947 sales across both 4x2 and 4x4 variants while the Ranger convinced 3104 of you to sign on the dotted line, again across both drivetrains.

It's no great surprise to us at Wheels that the RAV4 would one day get its moment in the sun. It was one of the finalists at Car of the Year 2020 and has won every comparison test we've put it into.

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It seems the Australian public agree with us, and waiting lists for the supply-constrained RAV4 have blown out to over nine months.

A combination of the RAV4 supply issue easing somewhat and a bigger than expected take up of the government's instant asset write-off, meaning that dealers ran dry of dual-cab stock in June, has seen the SUV claim top spot in Australia’s new car sales rankings for the very first time in its 26-year history.

Overall, sales were slightly depressed again in July, with 72,505 vehicles sold. Which is down 12.8 percent versus July 2019.

Year to date, 2020 is down 19.2 percent against 2019.

Nevertheless, the RAV4's 4309 units registered in July was a stellar performance.

The next best selling car in its class, the Mazda CX-5, tallied fewer than half the RAV's registrations at 1727, with the bronze medal being claimed by the Nissan X-Trail with 1116 sales.

In other words, the RAV4 sold more than the Corolla, the Camry, the Supra and the C-HR combined. Or, if you prefer, more than double the combined sales of Kluger, Prado and Fortuner.

Australia's favourite car is, predominantly, a hybrid. Who saw that coming?