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

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

And in a revelation that may come as a surprise to some customers, Toyota Australia is banking on canceled orders to shorten the queue.

Demand for the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid has exceeded supply since this generation was launched five years ago.

Toyota dealers say buyers have been seeking out the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid because it uses roughly half as much gas 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 are still lining up due to production disruptions – and higher customer demand than the Japanese auto giant expected globally.

Toyota Australia has declined to say how many RAV4 Hybrid customers are still waiting for their cars, but according to an analysis Driving force estimates that the company is sitting on at least 50,000 open orders (about 18 months of inventory).

When the current generation Toyota RAV4 went on sale in Australia in 2019, the company predicted it would sell around 25,000 units annually.

Production of vehicles bound for Australia currently stands at 35,000 units of the Toyota RAV4 annually – an increase of 40 percent – ​​and yet Toyota is still unable to meet customer demand.

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

When asked what the current cancellation rate is for the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, Toyota Australia Head of Sales and Marketing Sean Hanley said: Driving force: “It can vary between (model grades), but realistically three to four percent. We took that into account when making our production forecasts.”

Asked when Toyota RAV4 Hybrid deliveries would improve and waiting times return to a more realistic level, the senior executive said: “We are obviously trying to fulfill the orders we have.

“We’ll get good production in the second half (of this year) with the RAV4 Hybrid. We’ll 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 the plans could obviously change, it looks very positive.

“I think by July next year we will have a wait of less than 12 months. There will be a wait (after July 2024), but hopefully it won’t be anywhere near what it is now.”