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News - Market Insight - Market Insight 2025Market Insight: Full-size 4WD sales in strifeSlowing sales of stalwart 4WDs show Aussie buyers are shopping other segments, utes15 Sep 2025 By MATT BROGAN AUSTRALIAN four-wheel drive buyers are spoilt for choice, with more than 40 model offerings vying for a piece of off-road action.
As noted in GoAuto’s Market Insight segment earlier this year, four-wheel drive sales are indeed growing in Australia with 27 per cent of all new vehicles offering the high ground clearance and dual-range gearing required for serious off-road work.
But while the news is generally positive for four-wheel drive retailers, it seems less so for the traditional ‘big three’.
Sales of the Land Rover Discovery, Nissan Patrol, and Toyota LandCruiser – all of which compete in the sub-$120K upper large SUV segment – are diminishing in 2025, with VFACTS data suggesting each of the trio will see smaller totals than in 2024.
Based upon year-to-date sales numbers it is forecast the Land Rover Discovery will sell just 441 units by the end of 2025, or 5.8 per cent less than it did last year. Nissan Patrol sales are also tipped to tumble, with 7025 units forecast, or a reduction of 15.3 per cent on 2024’s total.
The segment-leading Toyota LandCruiser is also likely to finish 2025 slower than last year, with a forecast 11,583 deliveries – its lowest total in a decade. That number represents a 24.1 per cent decline on the overall number achieved at the end of the 2024 calendar year, explained only partially by next year’s arrival of an updated model with hybrid drivetrain availability.
Overall, the premium (over $120K) upper large SUV segment – which includes regular SUV models like the Hyundai Ioniq 9 and Kia EV6 – holds just 1.6 per cent of the sales achieved by the market overall, or 0.5 per cent less than the same time last year.
The end of year result in 2025 is expected to be the segment’s lowest since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Whether full-sized four-wheel drives are increasingly too big – or too expensive – for the majority of Australian buyers, the dip in sales totals is one that is making its presence felt across the industry.
While upper large four-wheel drive segment sales continue to decline, we note an uptick in the sale of ute-based and large segment four-wheel drives – including the Ford Everest and Toyota LandCrusier Prado – which now offer comparable space and capability when viewed against their larger rivals.
Year-to-date Ford Everest sales total 16,922 units (up 7.7 per cent on the same time last year), while the Toyota LandCruiser Prado has notched 19,955 sales in the same period (up 466.6 per cent).
Similarly, sales of utilities see continued growth with four-wheel drive dual-cab models selling particularly well. Strong sales in particular are noted from both the Ford Ranger (35,097 unit sales YTD) and Toyota HiLux (30,203), which duel it out most months for a place atop the new car sales ladder.
2015-2025 Upper large segment four-wheel drive sales*:
^Year-to-date sales as of 31 August 2025
*All sales data supplied courtesy of VFACTS  Read more8th of September 2025  Market Insight: Hyundai versus KiaKia builds a comfortable lead over Hyundai, YTD sales favour Kia by almost 4000 units1st of September 2025  Market Insight: Q5 Australia's favourite AudiAudi says it must maintain premium customer experience to keep Q5 as brand cornerstone |
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