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The surge in 4WD sales drove Toyota’s total sales to 16,361 vehicles, the company’s best ever August sales result and increased its sales lead for 2004.

Toyota’s August vehicle sales total was 1,853 more than second-placed Holden during the month and 4,714 more than Ford.

The result was 7.6 per cent up on the same month last year.

Year-to-date, Toyota has sold 133,287 vehicles, stretching its sales lead to 16,358 units over Holden and 45,755 units over Ford.

Toyota sold 5,660 4WDs in August, almost double that of its nearest 4WD rival Nissan, which sold 2,914 units.

Toyota Australia executive director sales and marketing, Dave Buttner, said growth in the company’s 4WD range was continuing to outstrip its rivals.

“We have a fantastic 4WD heritage in this country, both for workhorse utility vehicles and passenger wagons.

“We are very proud of the fact that we have continued to record double digit growth in the segment despite the arrival of new competitors,” he said.

The top off-road performers for Toyota in August were the LandCruiser PU/CC which recorded 560 sales (up 28.1 per cent on August 2003) and the RAV4, which recorded an increase of 11.3 per cent to 997 units.

Prado sales were up 4.5 per cent to 1,301 units, while 557 Klugers were sold.

Mr Buttner said the company was extremely pleased with the run-out performance of its locally-made Camry range, which will undergo an upgrade later this month.

“Camry six-cylinder sales were up 30.1 per cent to 1,387 units and four-cylinder sales were up 5.5 per cent to 2,144 units. That is our second-best ever August for Camry,” he said.

Avalon also performed strongly in August, with sales up 58.9 per cent to 653 sales.

Avalon and Camry's combined sales lifted Toyota's share of the large car market to 13.6 per cent in August, compared with 11 per cent for the year to date.

In the workhorse vehicle sector Toyota’s success wasn’t limited to 4WD models, with HiLux 4X2 sales up 23.2 per cent on August 2003.