Toyota RAV4 Hybrid wait times to reduce soon

The Toyota RAV4 has caused a lot of anguish for buyers who have had to endure wait times of up to three years for hybrid versions, but delivery delays will be slashed in 2024 as supplies from Japan continue to improve.

Toyota Australia sales, marketing and franchise operations boss Sean Hanley told carsales that if a buyer walks into a Toyota dealership today and wants a Toyota RAV4 – hybrid or otherwise – they can expect to have to wait “around 16 to 18 months”.

However, as supply from the Japanese factories in Toyota City and Aichi improves, Hanley insists the wait times will ease.

“I think that’ll reduce down to hopefully less than 12-months by the end of April next year,” he stated.

Despite the extensive wait times due to COVID-19 related production backlogs, Toyota vehicles are still proving popular with buyers, many of whom are willing to wait years in the queue.

Long-suffering Toyota RAV4 buyers appear to be a particularly stoic bunch, especially given the dealer markups that some are reportedly facing (and that Toyota intends to address), the lack of clarity around exactly when their vehicle will arrive and the fact that price guarantees have been all but abandoned by the global automotive giant.

There’s currently no price-protection assurance in place for RAV4 customers, despite the extended delivery wait times, after the car-maker ditched its price guarantee back in May 2022.

Despite customer frustration around delivery times, the RAV4 regained the mantle of Australia’s top-selling SUV (overall and mid-size) in October from the Chinese-built, American-designed Tesla Model Y.

The mid-size electric SUV has had a seminal year and Tesla guarantees a delivery time once an order is placed, but Toyota is confident the RAV4 will retain its title of Australia’s top-selling SUV for the entirety of 2024.

“I certainly believe it can,” stated Hanley, “with continuity of good supply and strong demand for hybrids, I certainly think it can.

“Of course that’s just speculation on my part – I have no idea what Tesla’s got but I do believe with the numbers that I’m aware of, that we have in our order bank, that if we’re able to deliver the hybrid RAVs that we have on order, then this would be a very, very different outcome on VFACTS.

“We’ll see. Next year will be interesting but I take my hat off to Tesla, they’ve done a good job. Obviously they have good engagement with their product and it keeps us all vibrant,” concluded the Toyota sales chief.

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