New 2026 Toyota RAV4 hybrid is nearly here to battle Hyundai Tucson hybrid, Nissan X-Trail E-Power and Haval H6 hybrid

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Toyota has released images of the new-generation RAV4, with the world premiere of the midsize SUV slated for 21st of May 2025 at 11pm AEST.

To whet the whistle, four teaser images of the new 2026 Toyota RAV4 have been released. At first glance from the top-down pics, you can see Toyota’s retro, boxy design language (which debuted with the Land Cruiser Prado) on the new RAV4. 

The new Toyota RAV4’s interior gets tech heavy, with a large central infotainment screen and digital heads-up display. 

These improvements will be crucial to bring the RAV4 back to being competitive with the Nissan X-Trail, Hyundai Tucson, and newer rivals from China such as the Haval H6 hybrid. 

A large digital instrument display fits neatly behind a perforated leather-appointed steering wheel. The digital display looks to be separated into three, customisable columns — including map navigation screen — with an ‘always on display’ readout of the vehicle’s speed.

The pictures show the RAV4 will keep physical buttons for regular-use driver controls. Similarly, the climate control system appears to have physical buttons.

Also new to the RAV4 is a slim drive selector which is integrated into the center console, rather like a Mark 8 VW Golf. A selection of push-buttons presumably control drive modes, handbrake release, and possibly a terrain selector. 

The current RAV4 has been on sale in Australia since 2019 with a range of dedicated petrol and hybrid drivetrain options. It is likely that Toyota’s sixth-generation RAV4, in a similar light to other recent releases, will only be available with hybrid motivation in Australia. 

It was thought the new RAV4 would be fitted with Toyota’s new turbo petrol hybrid powertrains, however with the launch being pulled forward, this seems less likely. 

Instead, we expect the TNGA-K platform based RAV4 to utilise the same 2.5-litre four cylinder hybrid system and e-CVT transmission as in the current Camry.

The team at Chasing Cars has been following the new RAV4 very closely. Speculative renders of the sixth gen RAV4 show Toyota’s new design language, already adopted by the Prius, Camry, bZ4X, C-HR and Japan-only Crown Sport.

Theottle’s renders are likely to be close to the public release model, being that they are based on leaked images of a camouflaged RAV4 being road tested in the US.

Expect pricing to rise by $2000-5000 due to a wealth of safety upgrades, modern creature comforts and powertrain improvements. The current 2WD base GX RAV4 starts at $42,260 before on-road costs. 

We expect an addition of a front-centre airbag and driver attention monitor to maintain a five-star ANCAP crash rating.

READ MORE: Everything We Know About The Next-Gen 2026 Toyota RAV4