1980 Toyota Stout Reviews

Small SUVs are bigger than ever - both in terms of sales and sheer size. We pit two of Australia's biggest-selling small hybrid SUVs against each other to determine which one comes out on top. Is it the Toyota Corolla Cross or the Hyundai Kona?

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's first plug-in hybrid model for Australia is on track to arrive locally by the first half of 2026 following the sixth-generation RAV4's reveal.

Toyota could be developing a little SUV-based ute in a throwback to the glory days of the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore utes, according to reports.

Toyota has globally revealed the new, sixth-generation RAV4 mid-size SUV ahead of its local introduction in the first half of 2026.

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.

A report has emerged claiming that Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, offered to help Nissan after its merger with Honda collapsed.

Australia has been waiting 15 years for a proper model update for the Toyota LandCruiser Prado. Is it worth the wait?

Ford Australia has axed so many of its cars over the past two years that it almost has nothing left on sale. It’s just lucky that one of the few cars left that it does sell — the Ranger ute —  does so in enormous numbers. So what’s missing from Ford’s line-up? A lot. Here are the cars we think Ford really needs in Australia right now.Ford lacks a rival, to not just to hardcore four-wheel drives like the Toyota LandCruiser and Nissan Patrol, but to more domesticated Aussie family favourites such as the Toyota Kluger, Kia Sorento and Hyundai Santa Fe.Yes, the Ford Everest seats seven and can go off-road with the best of them, but a more plush and comfortable suburban cruiser would fit nicely in the line-up.Now this might hurt a little bit and I apologise in advance, but in South Africa you can buy a Ford Territory. I know, what the Ford!?So, the South African Ford Territory is made in China and sold in other countries but it’s made in right-hand drive, which means there’s no reason why we can’t have it here.This new Territory isn’t as big as the Santa Fe at 4.63m long so it’s not really a large SUV but still, what a shame.What Australia really needs is a Ford Explorer, as in the petrol-powered version form the United States, not the UK electric version. The US Explorer is a a five-metre long seven seater, while the UK version is 4.4m and smaller than an Escape.Nope, bigger is better in this case and while the Explorer is currently only made in left hand drive, there is a chance a right hand drive might get the green light for the next-gen model.Ford axing the Escape is the car company equivalent to throwing away your only pair of pants just because you don’t like the colour of them.OK, that’s a terrible analogy but the point is mid-sized SUVs are the bread and butter of car brands and they sell all year long in large numbers and they’re kind of an essential item to car manufacturers. Ford axed the Escape because it didn’t sell enough of them. But it could easily bring back the Escape because it’s sold in the right-hand drive in the UK.Ford should seriously consider it, the mid-sized SUV segment is increasing in size at 19.6 per cent market share and Ford’s not able to join in the spoils. Toyota has the RAV4, Kia has the Sportage, Nissan has the X-Trail and Ford has nothing. No pants to wear at all.If there’s something Australians love almost as much as mid-sized SUVs it’s a small SUV. We’re talking the likes of the Toyota Corolla Cross, Hyundai Kona and the MG ZS. And Ford did have the Puma, but axed it in 2024 just four years after it arrived.The Puma was a high-quality feeling and premium looking SUV, but it was overpriced compared to its rivals and so sales struggled. People want premium looking at budget prices apparently.The Puma is sold in the UK as a hybrid and a fully-electric vehicle, so bringing it to Australia wouldn’t require anything other than a trip on a boat from Romania where they’re made.So there you are, Ford has pretty much all the cars it needs in right-hand drive to take the fight to rivals such as the Toyota RAV4 and Corolla Cross, the Kia Sorento and Hyundai Santa Fe.Will we see the Territory again? Will Aussies be OK with a Chinese made Territory? Given the the shift in attitudes and growing maturity towards Chinese brands and their rapid take-up there's no reason they wouldn't be.Sure bringing back the Territory nameplate, plus the Puma and Escape could be a risk for Ford, but would it be as big a risk as having all your eggs in the Ranger basket as it does now?

Toyota has revealed its potent new electric SUV.Dubbed the bZ4X Touring, it is a stretched version of the bZ4X SUV that is currently on sale.It is confirmed to land in Australian showrooms in the first half of next year, and resembles an EV version of the Subaru Outback SUV-cum-wagon.Toyota hasn’t revealed many details yet, but it will have two electric motors pumping out 280kW sent to all four wheels.It will come with the same circa-75kWh battery as the refreshed standard bZ4X, which should push its driving range past 500km but exact specification will be revealed closer to the car’s launch date.Toyota won’t reveal prices until closer to its launch date but expect it to be pricier than the current all-wheel drive version of the standard bZ4X that will set customers back about $80,000 drive-away.That price would put it at a substantial disadvantage compared to fellow mid-size EVs such as the Tesla Model Y and Kia EV5 and the wave of Chinese newcomers such as the XPeng G6 and Geely EX5.Toyota's current bZ4X sales run rate is about 80 cars a month, which puts it at about 1000 a year and substantially below rivals.Toyota Australia’s sales and marketing chief, Sean Hanley, said the vehicle would appeal to those in need of extra cargo space and the bigger battery and all-wheel-drive set-up would appeal to those wanting to do long-distance touring.The bZ4X Touring is expected to come with the same upgrades earmarked for the standard version later this year.That means a new 14-inch multimedia screen and 7.0-inch driver display.It’ll have roof rails and chunky wheel-arch guards and rear cladding that give it strong Subaru Outback vibes.The reveal of the new body shaped variant of the bZ4X follows the reveal of the electric C-HR, which is believed to be headed our way in the coming years.Toyota said the CH-R EV's max driving range is 600km via the benchmark WLTP testing cycle, but this has not been homologated yet.