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The current Toyota RAV4's record sales run has come to an end in Australia at the hands of dwindling stock ahead of its successor's April launch.
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The Toyota RAV4 has recorded its lowest sales result in four years, as supply of the current iteration of the family SUV dwindles in the lead-up to the new model's April arrival.
It is only set to get worse, as dealers have warned of a stock 'blackout' in many showrooms across February and March, which could slow RAV4 deliveries to a trickle.
It placed the SUV as Australia's 10th-best-selling new car last month – down from its usual ranking of second or third – and was overtaken by the Mazda CX-5 (2289) and Mitsubishi Outlander (1975) in its category.
It represents the lowest monthly sales result for the RAV4 since 1425 deliveries were reported in January 2022, amid production slowdowns caused by the global semiconductor shortage.
January 2026 is the RAV4's fourth-lowest sales result since the current generation launched in May 2019, and the ninth time fewer than 2000 examples have been reported as delivered in a month.
Lower results are expected in February and March, as it is forecast that many Toyota dealers will run low on stock in the lead up to the new generation's arrival at the end of March, or early April, pending any delays.
Orders have opened for the new RAV4, which is due to launch first as a conventional hybrid, ahead of a model-first plug-in hybrid option early in the second half of the year.
Toyota said in a media release it has already seen "strong customer interest" in the new model, following an "exceptional run out" for the current RAV4.
The Japanese car giant's sales were down 22.3 per cent in January 2026 to 14,310 vehicles, not helped by a decline for the HiLux ute, which switched from old to new models in December 2025.
Prado sales were down 51.1 per cent – as the surge in demand seen shortly after the latest model's late 2024 launch cools off – while the Corolla was up 9.6 per cent.
"As we transition to these new-generation vehicles, we’re seeing a temporary softening in deliveries compared with January last year," John Pappas, Toyota Australia's newly-appointed vice president of sales, marketing and franchise operations, said in a media statement.
"This is expected and simply reflects the timing of model updates. Importantly, demand remains strong across the Toyota line-up."
Pappas said the brand expects to "once again exceed 200,000 sales" in 2026, in what would be its 15th year above that marker.
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Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
