The biggest launch of the year for the world’s largest and most valuable automaker, Toyota Motor Corporation, is looming. The sixth-generation Toyota RAV4 2026 is set to begin rolling out globally in late 2025 or early 2026. While the UK is already privy to pricing details, the crucial US version remains shrouded in a fog of Toyota secrecy.
What we do know is a massive, definitive shift. Toyota has exiled the gasoline and diesel powertrains, offering the RAV4 2026 exclusively in Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid formats. The new models will be streamlined into three distinct flavor profiles, Core, Rugged, and Sport, spanning trims from LE and XLE to the new GR Sport and off-road-focused Woodland.
The standard RAV4 Hybrid is getting a genuine power boost, 11% more combined power than the outgoing FWD gasoline model, hitting 226 HP (for the FWD) or 236 HP (for the AWD). The efficiency is stellar, with the HEV achieving an estimated 44 MPG combined.
However, the real showstopper is the Plug-in Hybrid. Utilizing the company’s sixth-generation PHEV system. This model promises an impressive 23% increase in electric range, pushing the EV-only travel distance to 83 km. Power has been dramatically hiked to 324 combined horsepower, all while maintaining an exceptional manufacturer-estimated 41 MPG combined.
Naturally, even this massive increase in diversity and performance isn’t enough for the internet’s imaginative class. Members of the digital content creation guild are already trying to solve a problem that Toyota hasn’t even acknowledged yet. The busybodies at the AutoYa YouTube channel have unofficially rendered a hypothetical Toyota RAV4 coupe-SUV for 2027.
Although Toyota projects immense annual sales, around 450,000 units in the US alone, the CGI creators believe a sloping-roof RAV4 coupe-SUV could boost those figures by an extra 10% to 20%. They’re following a trend started by premium models like the BMW X6 and Audi Q8. The trend has been subsequently democratized by mass-market entries like the Renault Arkana and Kia EV6. Does the world’s most high-volume compact crossover really need an impractical, fashion-first variant?
