by New Toyota RAV4: demand is insanely high, and supply barely keeps up
If you’ve recently tried to buy a new Toyota RAV4 and faced difficulties, you are not alone. The updated SUV has proven so popular that some dealers have hundreds of customers on the waiting list, while others see new shipments disappear before the cars even arrive on their lots.
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Production in the USA: help or a drop in the ocean?
Toyota is taking steps to alleviate the shortage by starting production of the 2026 RAV4 in the United States. Production began this month at the company’s plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, adding capacity as demand continues to outstrip supply. However, don’t expect dealer lots to suddenly fill up with unsold RAV4s.
Waiting lists of hundreds of customers
At the Longo Toyota dealership in California, over 800 customers are waiting for the new model, despite more than 200 cars being delivered in May, according to Automotive News. In Florida, dealer Earl Stewart Toyota reportedly sold all available RAV4 shipments before customers could even see them in person.
Reasons for the shortage: own miscalculations?
Toyota executives say the shortage is largely a result of their own actions. The company spent months retooling plants in Japan and Canada to produce the updated hybrid RAV4, temporarily limiting output during preparation for the launch. This cautious approach helped ensure quality but left dealers with very limited stock.
“It’s so hot that we’re now counting inventory in hours, not days. Our turnover rate last month was 97.6 percent,” Toyota sales head Damon Rose told Automotive News.
Extensive testing program
To ease the launch, Toyota reportedly sent pre-production vehicles across the country for large-scale real-world testing before ramping up series production. Rose noted that the company accumulated over 700,000 miles (1,130,000 km) of driving in various conditions before the model reached customers.
This may have helped identify minor flaws but did not change some of the RAV4’s significant drawbacks we noticed during our own experience, including a noisy powertrain and a cheap interior. The new RAV4 is a better SUV than its predecessor, but it is not perfect.
Demand does not wane, even with drawbacks
However, these flaws do not seem to deter Toyota buyers. Even with production starting in Kentucky, the automaker is projected to end the year with RAV4 sales significantly below potential simply because there are not enough cars. This is not a problem most manufacturers would want, but it is a problem nonetheless.
Toyota
The situation surrounding the Toyota RAV4 exemplifies a classic case of market imbalance, where demand significantly exceeds supply. Despite the company actively ramping up production capacity in the US, the shortage is likely to persist for some time. This highlights not only the model’s success but also the challenges automakers face when transitioning to new platforms and technologies. For buyers, this means long waits and limited choices; for Toyota, it means the need to balance quality and production volumes to meet hot demand.
