2014 Africa Overland Statistics - The chosen vehicle: Toyota or Land Rover?

Africa Overland Websites

Land Rover might have dominated the last decade of independent overland adventure travel but Toyota is bouncing back...
The Toyota Land Cruiser has succeeded for the 2nd year as the most popular Africa overland vehicle of choice for trans-Africa trips departing in 2014.

In this blog post I highlight the two primary vehicles for overland travel, the average travel time in Africa and the average age of the overland vehicle in 2014.

I have been recording vehicle choice for the last five years based on websites listed on The Africa Overland Network.  A quick comment on the website and the impact of Facebook.  Facebook has eroded the need to host a blog or website detailing overland adventure travel however a few overlanders have managed to successfully balance published content (website blog) and social interaction (Facebook) whilst traveling.  I fully recognise that many travelers don't blog, speak different languages or simply don't know about The Africa Overland Network.  However, this is still the most reliable website to provide these statistics.

Interested in the previous years statistics?  2010 (LR) | 2011 (Toyota) | 2012 (LR) | 2013 (Toyota).

Roll on 2014...

2014 Overland & 4x4 Forum Statistics

Four years ago I started collecting overland and 4x4 vehicle-based forum statistics.

Overland Internet Forums & Magazines

I was interesting in tracking the number of registered users, threads and posts on the forums and providing a comparison on the top websites.

The challenge for 2014?  Could the popular forums keep the growth momentum up and were the thread counts increasing?
What about the magazines?  Are they challenging the forums for content or are web users divided between the content creators (forum users) and content consumers (magazine & facebook subscribers)?

Here is an overview of the previous years: 2012 | 2013 | 2014

A few websites stand out in 2014 which include ADV Rider, Expedition Portal, Horizons Unlimited and Prado point.  A detailed list of all the websites (forums & magazines) are at the end of the blog post.

2014 to 2015

Forum Statistics 2013 to 2014

In 2013, the media focused on "Overland Travel", with various vehicle manufacturers using overland travel to prove new vehicles (i.e. Land Rover / Range Rover) and in the USA, "overland" was a buzzword with plenty of new brands attempting to capitalize on the overland journey rather than the destination.

Google Image Search: Overland Travel Forum

Twitter and Facebook websites boomed with new Followers and Likes, whilst the traditional forums hummed with new users and topics.

"A sense of virtual community often develops around forums that have regular users." Wikipedia

Over the last two years I have annually recorded various internet forums, monitoring the user growth, thread count and active posts numbers. You can read the 2011 and 2012 overland forum stats via previous blog posts.

In this post, I summarize the numbers from February 2013 to January 2014.

Land Rover or Toyota: What happened in 2013?

Was Land Rover or Toyota the preferred vehicle choice in 2013 for independent trans-Africa overland travel?  In this blog post I outlined the preferred vehicle choice for 2013, average travel time in 2013 and a summary of different vehicles used over the last four years.

The Africa Overland Network was formally launched in September 2000 and currently has over 800 independent overland websites listed - this website provides an excellent base for actively monitoring overland trips departing per year.

Over the last decade of independent overland travel, the preferred vehicle has been Land Rover but in 2011, Toyota became the preferred vehicle of choice.  In 2012, Land Rover bounced back to claim the number 1 spot. What happened in 2013?

Here are the links to the previous overland website statistics: 2010 | 2011 | 2012

The 2013 Stats...

Land Rover and Toyota once again proved to be the most popular choice for overland travel in Africa (departing in 2013). A total of 53 websites are listed on the website (departure date in 2013), surprisingly the same number for 2012.  I acknowledge that I have probably missed a few trips (and websites) as its hard to keep updated and often travelers don't know about The Africa Overland Network.

Vehicle Age Statistics

What is the average vehicle age for an overland prepared vehicle?  My requirement was to find out what the average Land Rover and Toyota vehicle age is, the generation of vehicle, plus facts like the newest vehicle, and the oldest.
In this blog post I analyse trans-Africa trips, listed on The Africa Overland Network, which departed in 2010 through to 2014 (departing next year).

Currently, The Africa Overland Network, has 791 websites listed - all based on independent trans-continental overland travel. I visited each and every website listed from 2010 to 2014 to find out what year their vehicle was built - that totaled a whopping 324 websites and took hours to complete.  Only half the websites actually listed the age of the vehicle, which left me with 161 websites, of which 134 were trans-Africa trips.

Land Rover or Toyota: 2012 Trip Statistics

2011 was a unique year.  It was the first year that the preferred vehicle choice for a Trans-Africa overland adventure was a Toyota.  Prior to 2011, Land Rover had been the most dominant vehicle choice for majority of overlanders who opted to list their adventure website on The Africa Overland Network.

Interested in the 2010 and 2011 statistics?  Read them here:

• 2010 - Land Rover vs Toyota: Which overlander?
• 2011 - Big Changes

Roll on 2012

A few comments to make on the statistics:

Total trips listed on the website have continued to decline year on year since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) yet 2012 turned out to be a year that people opted to predict that they would travel for longer periods.

The Africa Overland Network - Trans-Africa Trip count

The website Kapp 2 Cape (Oyvind & Sheelah) are heading South from the UK.  In a recent blog (from Senegal) they wrote the following:

We have, since our journey started, wanted to meet up with other overlanders. Both to share information with, and maybe to spend some time on the road with. To our surprise, the roads are otherwise very quiet; there doesn’t seem to be very many overlanders around. And further, most of those we meet are either on their way north, or just staying in one country.

Overland Forum Stats 2013

How many overland and vehicle forums are you registered on? Got a favourite?  Do you create threads and reply to posts?  Or do you simply lurk scanning the huge amounts of content seeking out that fresh piece of information that glues your thoughts together?

In February 2012, I spent time researching the most popular overland and vehicle based forums currently active on the internet.  I recorded the names of the forums, along with the membership, total threads and posts and even the Alexa internet popularity rank. You can read more via: Internet Forums - Love 'em or Hate 'em.

It's now February 2013 and here are the latest statistics on those forums...

Registered Users
The registered users are simply that.  This does not represent the active members on the site.  Essentially the more registered users, the more content there is to read.  Only the forum 'ih8mud' publishes active membership count.

Overland Forums - Registered Users 2013

Africa Overland Vehicle Choice - 2011 Statistics

The main focus for the Africa Overland Network is to link past, current and future independent overland websites.  As a result, the website has captured journey time, primary route and vehicle choice. It is currently the most updated website dedicated to independent overlanders.  As a result, the statistics on vehicle choice and travel time tell an interesting story.

Leading up to 2010, the Land Rover was the preferred vehicle of choice for the overlander.  There were a number of reason why Land Rover was the preferred vehicle:  Majority of trip started from the North and headed South across Africa.  The cost of equipping a Land Rover was generally cheaper in the Northern hemisphere due to the availability of spare parts, overland accessories and certified mechanics.
Toyota was catching up - with the cost of the vehicle, availability of spares and accessories, the landscape was changing... The Toyota Land Cruiser was becoming affordable, and offered an alternative to Land Rover.
You can read all about Land Rover vs Toyota in the 2010 report: Which Overlander?

Big Changes in 2011
This year has been an interesting one... two big highlights have occurred that are worth mentioning.

Land Rover vs Toyota: Which overlander?

Any idea what percentage of independent overland trips use Land Rover's vs Toyota's?  Read on to see what percentage of overland trips use Land Rover's vs Toyota's vs other vehicles.

Here are a few interesting statistics from The Africa Overland Network pages.  

Please note that these stats are generated from the independent overland websites listed on The Africa Overland Network.  Although they offer an interesting read, please keep in mind that not all overland travellers keep an online journal and I certainly have not captured all the overland websites that have been created to remember an independent overland trip.

Total Trips currently listed on the website (In-active websites excluded):

Total Trips	546
Africa	409
Americas	24
Asia	56
World	57

The trips are split between the following vehicle types: