The sixth generation Toyota RAV4 SUV The brand confirmed that there were over 10,000 pre-orders on the books before it hit showrooms earlier this month.
RAV4 deliveries fell 72.2 percent in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the first quarter of last year as the previous generation sold out and the new model was on its way to Australia.
Despite the decline, Toyota’s vice president of marketing and sales, John Pappas, confirmed strong orders for the new model as well as a forecast of more than 40,000 sales for the RAV4 range this calendar year.
That is less than 51,947 RAV4s were registered in 2025, which was already 11.5 percent less than the year before.
However, with more than 40,000 sales, the RAV4 would still rank in the top 10 brands if it were a standalone brand. This is based on last year’s sales figures, when MG came in 10th place with 41,298 deliveries (down 18.4 percent).
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Looking ahead, Mr Pappas says Toyota will “have its sights firmly set on the number one (sales) spot in 2027” with the new RAV4, which will launch next year with a full model range and an (expected) five-star safety rating.
The Toyota RAV4 has been both Australia’s most popular SUV and Australia’s most popular hybrid in recent years and was the first model in some time to challenge the dual-cab Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux at the top of the sales charts.
In 2025, it finished second overall with 51,947 deliveries, leaving its HiLux counterpart (51,297) behind at the finish line, but not enough to catch up with the ever-popular Ford Ranger range (56,555).
As mentioned, it is also by far Australia’s most popular hybrid vehicle: the 51,869 RAV4 Hybrid deliveries last year accounted for 99.9 per cent of total RAV4 sales locally, outselling its second-place colleague, the Toyota Corolla Cross, by more than two to one (18,522).
On its own, sales of the RAV4 Hybrid even surpassed Hyundai’s entire hybrid lineup (28,851), with the Korean brand coming in second in the hybrid sales list by a wide margin behind Toyota (115,953).
The new generation 2026 Toyota RAV4 is already available from dealers in hybrid form. Plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variants – a first for the nameplate in Australia – will launch in the coming months.
Prices for the fully electrified SUV range start at $45,990 before on-road costs, with the base version already receiving the full range of sixth-generation safety features and systems.
Although it’s fresh to the market, Toyota Australia has already confirmed safety-focused “product updates” to be applied at the factory, arriving Down Under in the second half of 2026. Much of this is to better comply with the stricter ANCAP and Euro NCAP protocols for 2026 – read more Here.
Brand executives claim the sixth-generation SUV is the “safest RAV4 ever” despite the first batch not being rated by independent crash testing authority ANCAP, which could see the new model disappear from family buyers and fleet operators’ shopping lists until later this year.
Stay tuned Daily Sparkz for our review of the launch of the new Toyota RAV4 Hybrid in Australia on Wednesday April 22nd at 7:00pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST).
MORE: Explore the Toyota RAV4 showroom
