Toyota RAV4 2025 News

No, you’re not imagining it. Car companies are walking back their plans to roll out electric vehicles. So what does this mean for the future? What will we be driving instead? And should you stick to petrol or diesel?

The new 2026 Toyota RAV4 is a big deal.A new edition of the darling of mid-size SUVs and the default choice of many Aussie families may have just ruined the current version's chances of being the top-selling vehicle in the country this year.Through the first four months of this year Toyota has sold 17,610 RAV4s, which is good enough to make it the fastest-selling vehicle in the nation. That strong performance only gives it a slender 353 lead over the Ford Ranger ute, which has been the best-selling vehicle the past few years.But the announcement of the new model might hamstring its efforts to best the Ranger this year.Toyota has earmarked the new RAV4 to arrive in the first half of next year. That means factories will be retooling soon and production of the current version will slow as it changes over.But the main reason it might fall short is buyers will be unlikely to stump up the cash for a soon-to-be-replaced model.Earlier this year Toyota Australia's head of sales and marketing, Sean Hanley, predicted an SUV - namely the RAV4 - would become the best-selling vehicle in the country.“We already know that the number of ute models available to Australian buyers will expand rapidly. They’ll be competing for an overall ute market that is likely to remain steady, which suggests that the average sales per model will come down as a result,” said Hanley.“It may be, and I stress maybe, that an SUV could rise to the top of the national sales charts in the next year or two, and just maybe that SUV will be a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid,” he said.It appears Hanley may have laid a breadcrumb for the new RAV4's arrival back in January.The top of the podium may also be too big a mountain to climb next year for the RAV4 with the new version unlikely to have a full year on sale.Toyota is already taking expressions of interest on the new RAV4, so it'll hit the ground running in 2026 but it may give others too big a head start to run them down.In its corner is a mass of upgrades including heavily revised looks that bring butch blocky styling and a slender more modern front end.Inside there is a lot of tech with a big multimedia screen and digital driver display as well as an uplift in materials used.It will also be available for the first time in Australia with plug-in hybrid (PHEV) power, as well as its usual standard hybrid propulsion. The current generation is sold with PHEV power in the US.The PHEV will be available in two- and all-wheel-drive layouts. The front-wheel-drive version will make a total of 201kW and all-wheel-drive variants make 227kW and can hit 100km/h from a standstill in 5.8 seconds.A spunky RAV4 GR Sport will join the line-up for the first time and will be available with the AWD PHEV set-up only.Toyota said it is aiming for an electric-only driving range of about 100km, as calculated by the benchmark WLTP test cycle.Conventional hybrid power will still form the bulk of the range’s strength.It will be available in two- and all-wheel-drive layouts and makes 143kW, which is 17kW and 20kW down on the current 2WD and AWD versions respectively. Toyota doesn’t provide total torque figures for its hybrid tech. A drop in fuel use from the current version’s 4.7 - 4.8L/100km claim is expected, but not confirmed.Toyota Australia will reveal more details and prices closer to the car’s local launch date.

Toyota is gearing up to globally reveal a new-generation version of Australia’s best-selling SUV.The new, sixth-generation Toyota RAV4 will be revealed on May 21 and ahead of this the company has detailed some final teaser images that show some of the car’s exterior design. Digital artist Evren Özgün Spy Sketch has given us a glimpse of what it could look like in the above render.It has a new hammerhead shark-like front-end design that’s similar to what the new Toyota Camry and C-HR gets.There’s also a new tailgate design that features more prominent ‘RAV4’ badging and a full-width blacked-out section where the LED tail-lights live.In addition to the regular version of the RAV4, it appears Toyota will reveal a GR Sport version as in the teaser images it has a more prominent rear spoiler and a front-end design similar to the recently detailed Corolla Cross GR Sport.Toyota has also teased a more off-road-focused version with all-terrain tyres and roof rails, though this isn’t included in Toyota Australia’s set of imagery, so it’s unlikely to come locally.While Toyota is claiming the new RAV4 is an all-new generation, it appears to be a heavy reskin of the current model. The brand followed a very similar formula with the new Camry.These latest official teaser images follow recent ones of the interior. It showed the new RAV4 will have a blockier interior design with a large touchscreen multimedia screen, a sizeable digital driver display, head-up display and a stubby gear selector.At this stage Toyota hasn’t detailed what will power the new RAV4, but it’s expected this will be one of the biggest changes as it’ll feature the brand’s new series of hybrid engines.A 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine with hybrid boost making up to 200kW seems likely to find its way into the RAV4, which is a big jump over the current 2.5-litre hybrid’s 160kW. A punchier 2.0-litre turbo could be on the cards, too, potentially for the GR Sport.The new RAV4 will likely get a more efficient electric motor and battery system, too, helping drop fuel use below the current RAV4 Hybrid AWD’s 4.8L/100km rating.There will likely be a new version of the RAV4 PHEV, called the RAV4 Prime in North America, though it’s unclear whether this will come to Australia.At this stage the new, sixth-generation Toyota RAV4 is due to go on sale in 2026, where it’ll battle the Hyundai Tucson Hybrid and Kia Sportage Hybrid, as well as the coming Mazda CX-5 Hybrid.This comes as Toyota Australia Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Franchise Operations, Sean Hanley, told CarsGuide earlier this year the RAV4 might be the best selling vehicle in the nation moving forward.“It may be, and I stress maybe, that an SUV could rise to the top of the national sales charts in the next year or two, and just maybe that SUV will be a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid,” he said.The RAV4 was the second best-selling car overall in 2024, and so far for the first four months of 2025 it has overtaken the Ford Ranger as the best seller year-to-date.

The new Toyota RAV4 is just around the corner. The hybrid sales king of Australia is coming towards the end of its life and Toyota could be about to reveal its successor on May 21.

What is the best car to drive for a ride hailing service like Uber, Ola and Didi? Well, we thought we’d give you our two cents. Not only are we car experts and have driven thousands of new vehicles but we also spend a surprising amount of time sitting in the back of ride share cars talking to drivers. 

After more than a few months of dissent from industry voices regarding the new emissions laws brought about by the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES), one senior executive from Australia’s most popular new car brand says it’s time to ‘get on with it’.Toyota Australia Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Franchise Operations Sean Hanley says the effects of the NVES, which increasingly penalises brands for selling more polluting cars year-on-year, says the effects of the rules won’t be seen in showrooms until the end of the decade.The initial stages of the NVES are already in effect, with brands incentivised via credits to sell cars that produce lower emissions, and given penalties for cars that produce more CO2.For Toyota, that means one of its most popular models, the HiLux ute, is in the firing line along with big off-road SUVs like the LandCruiser and smaller Prado.But Hanley says it’s not the end of the world. Just because cars like the HiLux are popular now, that doesn’t mean they’ll always be.“You'd be shocked, but not all customers who drive utes need utes, right?” Hanley told CarsGuide.“And they may say, ‘well, in actual fact, as a company, I probably don't need to be driving that Prado, I could probably do this in a RAV’, for example.“So, you've just got to narrow down in the future to customer requirements. What does the customer want? Because as you navigate new vehicle efficiency standards, decarbonization, regardless of what market you're in, you have to decarbonize. You just have to. That's not a debate.“That's why, when people ask about new vehicle efficiency standards, my standard answer is we support new vehicle efficiency standards. The targets are tough. They're real tough, but we support the notion, because you have to. It's not a choice.”Toyota’s hybrid SUV mentioned by Hanley, the RAV4, is also amongst the most popular cars sold in Australia, though even its current generation will need to lower its emissions over the years to meet NVES requirements.We asked Hanley when he thinks the impacts of the NVES will be generally seen in the Australian market - significant changes to model line-ups and pricing.“2029, ‘30,” Hanley says, “2029 is a long way away, right?”“So any commentary around NVES right now, it's just speculation, to be quite honest.“I mean, we accept the notion of an NVES, but we're not hiding from the fact that the targets are extremely challenging. They're hard, but in reality, you've got time.”By 2030, Hanley said he expects to see a much higher percentage of hybrid electric cars in the market, as well as plug-in hybrid making up a more significant share of new car sales, but importantly he says BEVs will more steadily approach the eventual market share they’ll rest at.“Despite popular opinion, Toyota is actually saying Toyota EVs will grow over the next four, five years.“Probably thinking around 30 per cent would be where I see it . But give or take, it could go to 40 right?“That would be the top end, but it certainly will be more than 10 per cent you've seen or the less than 10 per cent you see today.”In any case, Hanley expects global product offerings to change enough that the NVES limitations won’t negatively impact the Australian market as much as expected by the time they become much harsher.“Product portfolios will change dramatically between now and 2029 so anything that people are speaking about NVES really, it's just speculative stuff.“It's here. Get on with it. We've now got to work within the frameworks of what we know today and get on with it," he said.

Toyota Australia has spruiked its ‘multi-pathway approach to decarbonisation’ for years now, in a bid to avoid putting all its emission-cutting eggs in one basket.One of those pathways, plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), is starting to take in Australia — along with conventional hybrids (which Toyota is immensely well-versed in).Toyota Australia's approach to PHEVs is, as the company’s Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Franchise Operations Sean Hanley said, slow so far.“Well, at the moment, we don't have any in Australia, that's where we're sitting right now. But in the future, you'll definitely see plug-in hybrids, PHEVs, as part of our product portfolio.”In the last couple of years, Hanley has told CarsGuide PHEVs are his expectation for the ‘next big rise’ in electrification, and the increase in uptake for the tech isn’t proving him wrong so far.So, if PHEVs are the next big thing, where are Toyota’s? Certainly not in Australia, despite the company having some on offer globally — especially in the US where a PHEV version of the RAV4 and Prius are available.While Toyota was happy to lead the way when it came to conventional hybrids more than 20 years ago, it seems like the brand’s local arm is waiting for the tech to mature a little more before locking it in for Australia.“PHEV… it's going to go gangbusters, right?” Hanley told CarsGuide.“Because especially in the later part of this decade, when I think you're going to find battery technology will have evolved to a point where you're going to get a fairly decent range on an EV charge.“It's still not going to be 500kms, because you might as well go to BEV if you're going to do that.“But if you can get a PHEV that gives 200 kilometres on a normal driving cycle, city driving and I'm not saying towing. BEVs and PHEVs, let's be clear, still have their anomalies. You tow, you turn the air conditioner on, all these things impact battery power.“So I'm talking about a normal drive, but if you had 200kms from a PHEV, that's a very good technology for Australia. So I think PHEVs will rise.”We asked if that means Toyota doesn’t see the tech as being quite right for the market just yet, but Hanley clarified: “No, no. It's an evolution.”“I mean, we don't have that vehicle, as of right now.“But what I'm saying in that comment is that if we can ever get to that point, and there's no doubt that battery technology will evolve to that point, that makes plug-in hybrid an incredibly engaging and appealing power train.”When asked if that means the RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid (or Prime as it was previously known in the US) could become an option in Australia, Hanley said it might be some way down the line.“We may in the future. But, you know, in the meantime you got a few years, I think, before that day is coming.“But ideally, if you get to 200km that would be utopia.”Hanley’s not personally averse to the idea of PHEVs, having spent quite some time behind the wheel of a plug-in from Toyota’s premium arm, Lexus.“In the meantime, I was happy driving an NX450h, which gave me my 80 kilometres or thereabouts, you know, charge it every night. I was basically running EV, but if that had 200km, that would have been good.”Globally, PHEVs are starting to be updated and improved with battery ranges well above 100km for EV driving, so over the next few years it could be worth watching the development of battery tech for hybrids to see just how suitable for Australia Toyota finds them before the end of the decade.

The trail of the new Toyota RAV4 is heating up.

Could it really be true that the next Toyota RAV4 will be available in hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery electric guise?That’s the word from Japanese magazine BestCar, known for its insider sources, which has come across information suggesting the new RAV4 won’t only be a Nissan X-Trail rival, but also compete with the BYD Sealion 6 in plug-in guise and the Tesla Model Y as a BEV. There’s even a render based on sightings of prototypes to accompany the story. Bad news is that the new version of Australia’s second most-popular car won’t launch until the third quarter of 2026. We’ve known for some time that the new RAV4 is likely to follow the lead of Camry that sits on the same TNGA-K platform in getting a heavy redesign, rather than all-new model but the RAV is set to go much further. The latest info suggests that there’s no new-generation 1.5-litre or 2.0-litre turbo coming to the RAV4 hybrid, instead it will continue with the fifth-gen hybrid just like the Camry.So far, outputs are expected to stay similar with the RAV4 hybrid producing either 168kW in front- or 173kW in all-wheel drive guise. There will be no petrol-only RAV4 this time around. However, a new battery electric version is looking to take over from the bZ4X based on a modified version of the hybrid RAV4’s underpinnings. Adding fuel to the fire is Toyota’s publicised move away from alphanumeric names back to real ones, at least in Europe. A Toyota RAV4 electric certainly has more brand recognition than a bZ4X. There’s precious little more detail on battery size, driving range, power outputs or battery chemistry. To be competitive an electric RAV4 would require at least a 70kWh battery, if not 80kWh, for a 500km-plus driving range. Charge times will need to improve from the bZ4X, closer to 20 minutes from 10-80 per cent. Toyota’s plug-in hybrid system will continue with BestCar suggesting improved electric-only driving range, up to 120km from a charge. It is currently 75km. Expect a 20kWh-plus battery for such a result, up from the existing 18.1kWh item. BestCar’s intel suggests the RAV4 will grow significantly, stretching to 4.7 metres long (+85mm) and riding on a 60mm longer, 2750mm wheelbase, resulting in improved cabin space. It’s not clear if seven seats will be available in certain markets. There are strong ties to the new Camry in the RAV4 render’s design, with a honeycomb grille and the ‘Hammerhead’ front clip. The electric version is expected to have a blanked off grille. Interestingly, it sounds like there will be minimal differentiation between hybrid, plug-in and electric versions, with all of them available in various trims sold simply as RAV4.Information from Japan suggests that pricing will go up to 4.5 million yen (A$46,500) for a hybrid version, when it currently starts at $42,260 for the GX. Surprisingly the plug-in hybrid (est. 5.8 million yen/A$60,000) is only expected to be a little cheaper than the battery electric version (est. 6.0 million yen/A$62,000) making both far more competitive with Chinese-made EVs such as the Tesla Model Y and Deepal S07. Currently, the RAV4 news is pure speculation, though now we’ve seen spy pictures of test mules on public roads the launch must be approaching. BestCar’s estimate is a third quarter launch in 2026, so over a year and a half away. By that time, a hybrid Mazda CX-5 may have left its mark in Australia and the USA. Stay tuned for more information on the new Toyota RAV4. 

Australia clocked a record number of new-car sales in 2024, proving once again how diverse our new-car market really is.