Six-month delay for new cars

Toyota New Zealand has revealed dealers are experiencing delays of up to six months to get new cars delivered to customers.

The marque says delivery times for its new vehicles, especially popular models such as the hybrid RAV4 and the latest Hilux, are ranging from four to six months. 

Other new models are taking an average of 16 weeks to arrive because of production and international shipping constraints, explains Steve Prangnell, general manager of new vehicles and product planning. 

He says global demand is impacting delivery schedules for new vehicles, used vehicles from Japan, and parts and accessories. 

“The effects of Covid-19, closed borders and delayed shipping and logistics into New Zealand are impacting all operational areas of the local business. 

“We are experiencing demand like never before, especially for our hybrid variants and seeing customers opt to wait upwards of six months for vehicles like the RAV4 hybrid in order to get what they want,” he notes.

“The problem we are facing is we are now at more than 10,000 back orders and we just can’t get the supply to be able to fill these in a fast manner.

“We currently have over 350 orders on our new generation Highlander, without customers having even seen a demo vehicle in the store.” 

Prangnell, pictured, adds orders are now being taken for the second half of the year and he advises consumers act soon for Christmas delivery.

At the same time, the company is focusing on finding solutions to minimise wait times caused by global supply chain problems. 

“Toyota is extremely grateful to our customers for their patience,” says Prangnell. “We are doing our best to get more stock into New Zealand. However, our top priority must be continually communicating with our valued customers and keeping them informed of any delivery delays.”