Have you come across a vehicle that needed to be serviced with R1234yf? Depending on what your focus vehicles are, the statistical chances that you did are on the lower end. But the change is gaining pace quickly. So an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ approach could be very detrimental to your business. If you have followed this approach until now, then this is your wake up call.


We’ve been on the journey for a few years. While R1234yf was called “statistically irrelevant” in the 2019 Cold Hard Facts report, the same paper, prepared for the Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment in 2020 stated an estimate of around 5% of the 945,000 imported vehicles in 2019 would run on R1234yf. In the same year, VASA stated “discussions with Toyota head office engineering confirmed that no imports of HFO charged vehicle models were being planned.” Two years on, this has been flipped on its head.


  • TOYOTA


  • Australia’s top selling passenger vehicle brand has just made the move.

From mid 2021, Toyota vehicles in Australia are keepin’ it cool using R1234yf. Think about this for a moment. Toyota, by far, is the most sold car brand in our market. Looking at sales in August 2021, Toyota sold just under 20,000 vehicles. Its closest competitor, Mazda, sold 7,600. This shows the impact a brand like Toyota will have on the roll-out and the changes you will likely see in the coming months are HUGE.


But Toyota isn’t the only brand moving on. We are aware, through the Highgate Air grapevine, that Volkswagen service centres are working through the changeover of equipment as well. Other brands we have previously reported include:

  • • Subaru
  • • Nissan
  • • Audi
  • • Porsche
  • • Jeep
  • • BMW
  • • Dodge / RAM
  • • Chevrolet
  • • Peugeot
  • • Citroen
  • • Fiat
  • • Alfa Romeo
  • • Ferrari
  • • McLaren

How about trucks, agricultural and heavy duty machinery?

This change doesn’t stop with passenger vehicles. Highgate Air is aware of Volvo Trucks arriving in Australia with R1234yf in their system by the end of this year.


Some of our customers also reported servicing New Holland Tractors with R1234yf and there are reports that Claas and John Deere machinery likely making their way into Australia soon.


Like so often, fundamental changes start slow, linger for a while, and then take off. It feels like we’re right at the point where the curve is starting to go up steep. There are a number of factors that will influence and propel this, such as politics around climate change which has gained more focus again, import caps on R134a and manufacturers streamlining their production.


So while R134a is not dead (and will be a long time until it's buried), the change is well under way and its gaining momentum quickly.