Toyota RAV4, LandCruiser price penalty

Would-be Toyota RAV4 customers now face a potential price rise as well as waiting times that have blown out up to 12 months.

With a facelift due in February, Toyota Australia management has confirmed to carsales that the price increases coming with the new 2022 Toyota RAV4 will have to be paid by customers who miss out on the current model they have ordered.

Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series customers potentially face the same situation, as wait times have also blown out to as much as 12 months and a facelift is due later this year.

Wait times on the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series wagon also now extend up to 12 months, but that is a brand-new model for which the facelift issue doesn’t apply.

Asked specifically if RAV4 customers who miss out on the current car would pay the existing price for the new model, Toyota Australia sales and marketing boss Sean Hanley was emphatic.

“No, because there is definitely a change and definitely a spec up,” he said.

“But we are looking at different ways to minimise that impact with our customers.”

Hanley didn’t say what those initiatives might comprise, but it could potentially be anything from servicing subsidies to free accessories.

“We are about to launch into those programs and communicate with those guests directly. It’s a shared responsibility between TMCA (Toyota Motor Corporation Australia) and the dealer network.”

Hanley said a “cross-company” Toyota Australia team, established in 2021 when COVID-triggered delays began emerging, was working on both the RAV4 and LC70 facelift compensation packages.

The official estimate from Toyota Australia right now is if you place an order today for any model in the range you’ll wait between three and 12 months to take delivery.

Hybrid drivetrains usually have a longer wait time.

Toyota Australia is hoping the year-long wait on popular new models will start to be alleviated in the second quarter of 2022 as COVID potentially subsides and production ramps up.

The coronavirus pandemic and the various supply, shipping and factory shutdown issues in Japan that it has triggered are exacerbating a wait time for Toyota models that was already substantial because of strong demand.

The longest RAV4 wait times are for petrol-electric hybrids – which account for close to 80 per cent of all orders – and especially high-end Cruiser and Edge models.

Even the most freely available RAV4 models are on roughly six-month wait times.

The longest waits in the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series line-up are for top-end models such as the GR Sport and Sahara ZX, but even the base-model GX is a six-month wait.

“We are working closely with our parent company and I think beyond the first quarter of 2022 we will have more certainty around the supply of the 300 Series,” said Hanley. “We are one of the biggest LandCruiser markets in the world.”

Hanley said LC70 wait times were being exacerbated by strong demand triggered by a booming agricultural sector.

“We are working with our parent company to maximise supplies through further efficiencies,” he said.

“That plant is working hard for us so hopefully we will see some light at the end of that tunnel toward the latter half of the second quarter.”

He offered apologies for the many delays and praised Toyota customers for being prepared to hang in there.

“You might expect with such a long wait time a huge cancelation rate but we are not seeing anything abnormal in terms of our cancellation rates, which means we are managing our customer base as best we can,” he said.

“I just want to assure everyone we are doing everything possible and while I don’t see a reduction of lead teams in the [first] quarter, please be assured we will continue to work through that to keep our customers updated as further information is confirmed.”