Toyota RAV4 Hybrid orders cancelled as wait times remain up to two years

Customers tired of waiting in the queue for a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid are cancelling their orders as delivery delays continue to range from 12 months to two years on popular variants.

And, in a revelation that may come as a surprise to some customers, Toyota Australia has been banking on cancelled orders to help shorten the queue.

Demand for the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid has exceeded supply since this generation went on sale five years ago.

Toyota dealers say buyers have sought out the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid because it uses roughly half as much petrol as a conventional family SUV of the same size – and demand has increased even further since fuel prices hit record highs.

Although Toyota has ramped up production, buyers have still been caught in a queue due to manufacturing interruptions – and higher customer demand than the Japanese car giant had anticipated globally.

Toyota Australia has declined to say how many RAV4 Hybrid customers are still waiting for their cars, however analysis by Drive estimates the company is sitting on at least 50,000 unfilled orders (about 18 months worth of stock).

When the current-generation Toyota RAV4 went on sale in Australia in 2019, the company forecast it would sell about 25,000 examples each year.

Production of vehicles bound for Australia is currently running at a rate of 35,000 examples of the Toyota RAV4 annually – an increase of 40 per cent – and yet Toyota still cannot match customer demand.

As delivery delays have ranged from 12 months to two years for most popular RAV4 Hybrid variants over the past three years, some customers have given up waiting, Toyota has conceded.

When asked what the current cancellation rate is for the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, the head of sales and marketing for Toyota Australia, Sean Hanley, told Drive: "It can vary between (model grades) but realistically three and four per cent. We factored that in when we made our production forecasts."

When asked when supply of the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid would improve and wait times would come back to a more realistic level, the high-ranking executive said: "We're trying to supply the orders that we've got obviously.

"We're getting good production in the second half (of this year) on RAV4 Hybrid. We get even better production – a significant production (boost) – in the first quarter (January to March) of next year.

"That's on the plan as we sit here today, and while plans can obviously change, it's looking very positive.

"I think we'll have the wait time under 12 months by July next year. There will be a wait time (after July 2024), but hopefully it won't be anywhere near what it is today."