The Toyota RAV4 was Australia’s best-selling car for the fourth time in its history last month, while also setting a new delivery record for the nameplate.
In July, Toyota delivered 5933 RAV4s to Australian buyers, placing it ahead of the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux utes for the top spot.
It represents a new monthly record for RAV4 deliveries, eclipsing the 5857 examples of the SUV shipped to customers in April this year – which beat the previous record of 4825 examples sold in August 2020.
Since mid-2020, production constraints have prevented Toyota from building enough RAV4s to fulfil orders, leading to lengthy wait times of more than 24 months for top-spec hybrid examples in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the first seven months of 2024, Toyota delivered 31,338 RAV4s to Australians, well and truly placing it on track for a record year.
The RAV4’s existing annual record of 38,537 deliveries came in 2020, with production constraints subsequently leading to a drop in deliveries in subsequent years.
A total of 35,751 RAV4s were delivered in 2021, 34,845 in 2022, and 29,627 in 2023.
That latter figure represented a surprising downturn amidst a new overall market record, though the Toyota RAV4’s fortunes have been reversed so far in 2024, with deliveries 92.6 per cent above the same seven-month period last year.
2024 has been a big year for the RAV4 already, and it looks to continue moving from strength to strength.
In June, Toyota announced the RAV4 – as well as all other models with hybrid drivetrains available as an alternative to petrol – would go hybrid-only in Australia, citing overwhelming demand (in excess of 95 per cent in some months) for electrified examples of the SUV.
Last month, Toyota celebrated selling more than 500,000 RAV4s in Australia since its July 1994 launch, coinciding with its 30th anniversary on local roads.
While demand for the SUV means wait times still exist, they’re now down to four months – about 20 months less than the peak just two years ago.
We’re still yet to see the RAV4 eclipse 6000 deliveries in a month though, a milestone both the Ranger and HiLux have reached multiple times.
There’s also a question mark over the Toyota RAV4, following the car giant’s announcement last week that the SUV had been added to its growing list of vehicles which violated certification testing procedures.
While Toyota announced in June it would temporarily suspend Yaris Cross shipments for a similar certification issue, the RAV4 is continuing to roll down the production line and onto ships bound for Australia.
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