Papua New Guinea Full Year 2014: Toyota Land Cruiser 70 reigns

The Toyota Land Cruiser 70 is #1 in PNG with 30.1% share.

* Now updated with the Top 10 brands and All-Toyota sales *

Papua New Guinea is one of the world’s least explored nations culturally and geographically. It is home to 7.3 million inhabitants, most of them living in customary communities which are as diverse as the 848 languages listed for the country. Papua New Guinea is one of the most rural countries in the world, with only 18% of the population living in urban centres, and one-third of the population living on less than US$1.25 per day. Still due to its larger population, Papua New Guinea is one of the largest Oceanic new car markets with 8.305 new registrations in 2014, most of it confined to the capital Port Moresby as well as mining areas.

Not confirmed by sales figures: Hyundai sales are less than the Toyota Hilux alone.

However thanks to Toyota Pacific we have access to official sales data for Papua New Guinea (PNG) for the first time. Last May I contacted Ela Motors, Toyota’s distributor in PNG, and they confirmed what the below video shouts: the Toyota Land Cruiser 70 is the best-selling model in Papua New Guinea, especially in its Troop Carrier 10-seater configuration but also as a Single Cab pickup truck. Official figures places the Land Cruiser 70 at a whopping 30.1% market share in PNG in 2014. Ela Motors noted that other strong Toyota sellers include the Toyota Hilux Double Cab 4WD and the 25-seater Coaster Bus. In fact, the Hiace is the 2nd best-seller for the Japanese manufacturer in PNG followed by the Hilux and Coaster. These four nameplates represent 53% of the overall PNG market in 2014 and 96% of Toyota sales in the country.

An advertisement on the Hyundai PNG website claims the H-100 as the best-selling one tonne truck in the country, however Hyundai only comes in 5th place overall with 5.4% share below Toyota at 55.1%, Isuzu at 12.9%, Nissan and Ford. This means Hyundai as a whole sells less than the Hilux alone and that this claim isn’t valid anymore – if it ever was.

Full Year 2014 Top 10 brands and Top 10 All-Toyota models below.