'We never say told you so': Toyota says the market has spoken on electric cars as EV sales flatline in Australia, while petrol-hybrids like the Toyota RAV4, Corolla Cross and Kluger soar

Toyota says the "market has spoken and is speaking everyday" on electric car sales in Australia, with the brand's multi-pathway strategy paying dividends as hybrid sales soar.

Toyota in Australia has come under fire at various stages over the past few years after being perceived as slow to act on electric vehicles, with the brands first and only EV offering – the bZ4X – only arriving in April this year.

The brand has continued to invest in new internal combustion engine technology, even as a multitude of rival brands vowed to go all-electric, some by as early as the end of the decade.

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But so far this year, EV sales have essentially flatlined in Australia and in some parts of the world.

Compared to hybrid (up 96 percent year to date) and plug-in hybrid (up 127.4 percent year to date), the EV sales figures must make for worrying reading for those brand's that went all-in on the transition.

In fact, several high-profile brands have wound-back their all-EV promises or investments globally, including Volvo, GM and Ford.

And while Toyota says it will never say "told you so", it's clear the Japanese giant is happy with its strategy. In fact, you could argue Toyota has been the biggest beneficiary of the rush to hybrid models, with its RAV4 Australia's best-selling vehicle last month.

That success is only expected to continue, with speculation by Japanese media outlets that a new RAV4 is now on the way (pictured), which will debut a bigger battery for a long electric driving range and lower fuel use.

"We believe that decarbonisation is a fact of life. We’ve never been anti-BEV, and we know that to survive we need to get our carbon footprint down, over time, to zero," says Toyota Australia's VP of Sales and Marketing, Sean Hanley, at the on-sale announcement of the Toyota Tundra.

"Where we get frustrated is with the mistruths that have been said about our organisation, and the mistruths about the timing and implementation of these carbon-natural technologies.

"But we never chuckle about it, and we never say told you so, because we still have to get to zero."

According to Toyota Australia, the electric vehicle switch is coming, it's just coming slower than some brands predicted.

"BEVs will grow, they're just not growing at the pace that some would have had you believe. They are still going to be a big part of the automotive landscape going forwards," Mr Hanley says.

"We've still got to work hard to bring product and mobility solutions to customers that work for them, and on that journey, decarbonise. Nothing has really changed.

"But the market has spoken. And the market is speaking everyday. I've never said Toyota is any better than any other BEV, or that hybrid is any better than a BEV, I've just simply said the reality, the truth, and so has Toyota."