The sixth-generation Toyota RAV4 SUV had over 10,000 pre-orders in the books prior to it arriving in showrooms earlier this month, the brand has confirmed.
RAV4 deliveries dropped by 72.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, compared with the first quarter of last year, as the previous generation was in runout and the new model was on its way to Australia.
Despite the drop, Toyota’s vice president for marketing and sales, John Pappas, has confirmed a strong order bank for the new model as well as a forecast of more than 40,000 sales for the RAV4 lineup this calendar year.
That’s down on the 51,947 RAV4s registered in 2025, which was already 11.5 per cent down on the year prior.
However, with 40,000+ sales, that would still see the RAV4 finish among the top 10 brands if it were a standalone brand. This is based on last year’s sales figures, when MG finished in 10th place with 41,298 deliveries (down 18.4 per cent).
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Looking ahead, Mr Pappas says Toyota “will firmly have the number one [sales] spot in its sights for 2027” with the new RAV4, which will enter next year with a fully fledged model range and an (expected) five-star safety rating.
The Toyota RAV4 has been Australia’s favourite SUV as well as Australia’s favourite hybrid in recent years, and has been the first nameplate in some time to challenge the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux dual-cab utes at the top of the sales charts.
It finished second overall in 2025, with its 51,947 deliveries pipping its HiLux stablemate (51,297) at the finish line, but not enough to catch the ever-popular Ford Ranger lineup (56,555).
As noted earlier, it’s also far and away Australia’s favourite hybrid vehicle, with the 51,869 RAV4 Hybrid deliveries last year accounting for 99.9 per cent of total RAV4 sales locally and bettering its second-placed stablemate, the Toyota Corolla Cross, by more than two-to-one (18,522).
On its own, RAV4 Hybrid sales even eclipsed Hyundai’s entire hybrid range (28,851), too, with the Korean brand a distant second on the hybrid sales chart behind Toyota (115,953).
The new-generation 2026 Toyota RAV4 is already in dealers in hybrid form, with plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variants – a first for the nameplate in Australia – arriving in the coming months.
Prices for the all-electrified SUV range kick off from $45,990 before on-road costs, with even the base grade getting the full gamut of safety features and systems available with the sixth-generation range.
While it’s fresh in market, Toyota Australia has already confirmed safety-focused “product updates” to be applied at the factory, scheduled to arrive Down Under during the second half of 2026. Much of this is to better comply with stricter 2026 ANCAP and Euro NCAP protocols – read more here.
Brand executives maintain the sixth-gen SUV is the “safest RAV4 ever”, though the initial batch will remain unrated by independent crash-testing authority ANCAP, which could leave the new model off the shopping lists of family buyers and fleet operators until later this year.
Stay tuned to CarExpert for our Australian launch drive review of the new Toyota RAV4 Hybrid on Wednesday, April 22 at 7:00pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST).
