Toyota RAV4 plug-in hybrid now nearly a third of orders

The plug-in hybrid version of the Toyota RAV4 now accounts for nearly 30 per cent of all Toyota Australia orders, according to the brand’s top sales executive.

PHEV take-up was exactly what Toyota had planned for, while its electric bZ4X just recorded its best ever month in September.

Toyota Australia Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Franchise Operations John Pappas said Toyota now had a good level of RAV4 PHEV supply, and buyers were snapping them up.

“We’re getting a really good balance of PHEV RAV now. The order intake on PHEV RAVs is going really well. It’s nearly around 30% of our order intake, which is good, which is what we planned for,” he said.

It’s been a big month for the RAV4 overall. September 2026 VFACTS data shows it found 4624 homes, up 81% on September 2025, making it the second best-selling vehicle in the country behind the Ford Ranger.

Year-to-date it’s on 31,209, still down 11.1% after a slow start to the year.

The wider market is plugging in too. PHEV sales are up 122.7% in September to 10,072 and up 124% year-to-date to 85,278.

Toyota’s electric bZ4X also had its best month yet, with 410 sales across the SUV and new Touring, up 412.5% on last September. Year-to-date it’s on 2919, up 331.8%, and Pappas said it’s on track for the 5000 Toyota targeted.

“Last year we did 1000 BZs, and we introduced the Touring … we’re right on track for 5000, which is pretty much where we thought we’d be,” he said.

That still requires 2081 more bZ4X sales in the final quarter, or almost 700 a month. For context, Tesla sold 4476 Model Ys in September alone.

Pappas said the fuel price spike from overseas conflicts created a run on the bZ4X earlier in the year.

“When we had the fuel spike, we had a big backlog on bZ4Xs. We’re now getting more stock coming through on those cars,” he said.

Toyota will add a fourth RAV4 PHEV variant, the GXL 2WD, joining the XSE 2WD ($59,515), XSE AWD ($64,015) and GR Sport ($66,340), all plus on-road costs.

Pricing for the GXL hasn’t been announced but it should become the cheapest plug-in RAV4 on the market.

The electric C-HR follows mid next year as part of what Toyota calls its ‘30 by 30’ strategy.

“We anticipate that by the end of 2030, approximately 30% of Toyota Australia sales will come from zero and low emission vehicles, including BEVs, PHEVs and FCEVs,” Pappas said.

On current RAV4 PHEV orders alone, it’s on the right track.

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