The Toyota RAV4 Hybrid has the potential to break up the ute domination of Australia’s new vehicle market, claims Toyota Australia, which says the popular all-hybrid mid-size SUV could become the country’s best-selling model for the first time in 2025.
The evergreen SUV finished second to the Ford Ranger in 2024, according to official VFACTS sales figures released yesterday – with 58,718 sales versus 62,593 – after finding more homes in the second half of the year than the Blue Oval brand’s hay-hauler.
The Ranger ended the Toyota HiLux’s seven-year reign as Australia’s best-selling vehicle in 2023, and utes accounted for three of the top five most popular new vehicles last year, with the ageing HiLux securing third outright and the Isuzu D-Max managing fourth overall.
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The RAV4 outsold the HiLux for the first time in 2024
But Toyota Australia believes the RAV4 can end the ute hegemony by going one position better in the 2025 sales race – despite a new RAV4 model being on the horizon for 2026 – thanks to continued demand and improved supply.
According to Toyota Australia vice-president of sales, marketing and franchise operations Sean Hanley, the RAV4 is poised to become the first SUV to secure the mantle of the nation’s best-selling vehicle.
“Utes could potentially hold out for another year, but beyond that I don’t think so,” said Mr Hanley.
“Last year was the first time an SUV was Toyota’s best-selling vehicle. For the previous nine years it was HiLux.
“We already know the number of ute models available to Australian buyers will expand rapidly, and they will all be competing for an overall ute market that will remain steady… as a result, it may be that an SUV could rise to the top of the national sales charts in the next year or two.
“Just maybe, that SUV will be a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid.”
Key to Mr Hanley’s optimism is freer-flowing supplies from Japan, where the RAV4 is built, which has already reduced delivery waiting times from a high of four years during Covid to three months.
“We’re down to three-month wait times for RAV4, so we’re all good on that front,” Mr Hanley told CarExpert. “There may be one or two variants with slightly longer wait times, but it’s what I’d call a normal wait time now.”
Another key driver of the RAV4’s success in Australia has been the widespread availability of a hybrid powertrain, which accounted for 95 per cent of total RAV4 sales last year, and is now standard across the range.
The high proportion of RAV4 Hybrid sales also helped push Toyota’s total hybrid mix in 2024 close 50 per cent, a figure the dominant Japanese auto brand says will be surpassed in 2025.
