2026 Toyota RAV4.
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Another day, another set of new illustrations showing a possible 2026 Toyota RAV4.
There seems to be a new guess every day now. This means that a new RAV4 is probably right around the corner. As expected.
Apparently, a new Toyota Wildlander is expected to be unveiled in China in late April. So far the Chinese Wildlander and the RAV4 are basically the same car except for very few changes. Even if the new car we’ve seen in spy shots is the Chinese Wildlander it will give us a good idea of what our RAV4 would look like.
The New York Auto show starts a few days before and we could actually see the RAV4 there before the Chinese Wildlander, who knows.
The new RAV4 is also rumored to be a new hybrid-only model in North America, with an updated PHEV model with a longer EV range as an option.
As far as its design, there is nothing too crazy. As it looks like a mix between the recurrent RAV4 and a Cown Signia. Which is nothing really new. With over 475,000 of them sold last yea in the US alone, I can see why Toyota would be very afraid to rock the boat in any way.
Besides the usual suspects, one of the RAV4’s main competitor on the world’s stage is actually the Tesla Model Y. Which also got quite a few revisions for the new year.
So far in the US, the Model Y is still loaded for around $45,000. Its only options besides the “full self driving” gimmick are just colors and wheels as well as AWD. Everything else is standard. The RAV4 PHEV starts at almost the same price. However, if you add a premium package to the top model it comes to over $52,000. Which is more than $4000 over the AWD Long Range Model Y.
It seems the next-generation RAV4 could be the best choice for those who really do not want an EV at any cost. With the EV market growing every single year by at least 7 to 8%, that pool is slowly shrinking.
I predict the new RAV4 will do well for 2 or 3 years. Then comparable EVs will just make more sense for an increasing part of the population. It already does for many since the Model Y is already more popular around the world than the RAV4…