The top-selling SUV in Australia in 2022 is still in hot demand. But with a sizeable price increase, is the beloved five-seater hybrid SUV starting to lose its lustre?
Electric
Toyota RAV4 overtakes Tesla Model Y as world’s best-selling car in 2024
SUVs dominated global sales in 2024 but hybrid outmuscled EV at the top of the best-sellers’ list as the Toyota RAV4 passed Tesla Model Y to become world number one.
Australia’s most popular SUV, the Toyota RAV4, has been declared the world’s best-selling car in 2024, overtaking the Tesla Model Y with more than 1.18 million sales.
It took six months to have the figures confirmed, but leading automotive industry data provider Jato Dynamics has drawn from a variety of sources across the globe to declare Toyota’s medium family SUV the world number one – by just 2000 units.
It was a short tenure at the top of the table for the Tesla Model Y, which took the mantle from the Toyota Corolla in 2023 when sales of the US brand’s battery-electric medium SUV surged 64 per cent year-on-year. After placing second in 2023, the RAV4 enjoyed 11 per cent growth last year as Model Y lost ground, in part due to the production shift to its latest series.
Corolla had topped the table for 20 consecutive years but was relegated to fourth in 2023 and slipped further to fifth last year, underlining buyers’ shift away from traditional passenger cars in preference for SUVs. The continued rise of the RAV4 and the move backwards for Model Y also reflects softening sales for EVs across the board and strong support worldwide for Toyota’s hybrid powertrains.
The Toyota RAV4 will enter a new sixth generation later this year, launching in Australia early in 2026 with the latest version of its proven petrol-electric hybrid system and, for the first time, a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) electric powertrain.
Let’s take a look at the world’s top 10 best-selling cars for 2024, how they compare to Australia’s top models and what’s in store for the Toyota RAV4 as the new generation approaches.
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World’s Top 10 best-selling cars in 2024
The Toyota RAV4 stands aloft as one of five models from the Japanese auto giant to figure among the world’s top 10 best-selling cars in 2024. Our table below has the full details, showing the Toyota Corolla Cross small SUV in third behind the RAV4 and Tesla Model Y, with the Corolla sedan fifth, HiLux ute sixth and Camry medium sedan eighth.
The top four best-selling cars are all SUVs, with the Honda CR-V joining classmates RAV4 and Model Y as the biggest drawcards in the hugely popular medium SUV segment and Corolla Cross underscoring massive growth underway in the small SUV category.
There is still strong support for sedans in global markets, with Toyota’s Corolla and Camry prominent and the Tesla Model 3 and BYD Qin mid-sizers also in the top 10 (Qin is not sold in Australia). Whereas Tesla sells only EVs, BYD offers both battery-electric and plug-in hybrid powertrains that has seen it take global leadership for combined BEV/PHEV sales worldwide. Toyota remains the global number one for total (and hybrid) sales.
Utes are the biggest sellers in Australia, but HiLux is the sole medium-sized ute among the top 10 in global terms, standing ahead of the Ford F-150 full-size pick-up which was dethroned in the giant US market by RAV4 in 2024 after holding the number-one spot for decades.
More: Tesla Model Y confirmed as world’s best-selling car in 2023
| World's Top 10 Best-Selling Cars 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
|
1. Toyota RAV4 |
1,187,000 |
+11% |
|
2. Tesla Model Y |
1,185,000 |
-3% |
|
3. Toyota Corolla Cross |
859,000 |
+18% |
|
4. Honda CR-V |
854,000 |
+1% |
|
5. Toyota Corolla sedan |
697,000 |
-11% |
|
6. Toyota HiLux |
617,000 |
-15% |
|
7. Ford F-150 |
595,000 |
-2% |
|
8. Toyota Camry |
593,000 |
-8% |
|
9. Tesla Model 3 |
560,000 |
+10% |
|
10. BYD Qin |
502,000 |
+6% |
Source: JATO Dynamics global automotive analyst Felipe Munoz, Top 10 Global 2024.
Australia’s Top 10 best-selling cars in 2024
In the Australian market, the Toyota RAV4 finished in second place last year behind the Ford Ranger ute, which secured back-to-back wins after ending the seven-year reign of the Toyota HiLux in 2023. HiLux slipped to third last year and Corolla finished in seventh, making it three entrants in the top 10 for the market-leading Japanese brand.
Australian buyers’ insatiable appetite for utes was also seen with Isuzu D-Max in fourth, while demand for medium SUVs was similarly striking with RAV4 joined by the Mitsubishi Outlander, Mazda CX-5 and Kia Sportage.
The Ford Everest large SUV and MG ZS small SUV also took leading positions in their respective class as the Tesla Model Y fell out of the top 10, dropping from sixth to 11th position.
| Australia's Top 10 Best-Selling Cars 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
|
1. Ford Ranger |
62,593 |
-1% |
|
2. Toyota RAV4 |
58,718 |
+98% |
|
3. Toyota HiLux |
53,499 |
-12% |
|
4. Isuzu D-Max |
30,194 |
-3% |
|
5. Mitsubishi Outlander |
27,613 |
+14% |
|
6. Ford Everest |
26,494 |
+76% |
|
7. Toyota Corolla |
24,027 |
+20% |
|
8. Mazda CX-5 |
22,835 |
-1% |
|
9. MG ZS |
22,629 |
-23% |
|
10. Kia Sportage |
22,210 |
+41% |
Source: Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries VFACTS report, Electric Vehicle Council sales report, December 2024
The 2026 Toyota RAV4 range will be headlined by a 227kW GR Sport AWD PHEV flagship model.
New 2026 Toyota RAV4 coming soon
Remarkably, the Toyota RAV4’s popularity worldwide comes late in the current model’s lifecycle, with a new sixth generation launching in Australia in the first half of 2026. This is a full-scale redesign that brings the RAV4 up to date with its rivals in terms of styling, packaging and technology, including powertrains which will include the latest version of its proven petrol-electric hybrid system and, in a first for our market, a plug-in hybrid option.
The RAV4 PHEV will be offered in both front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive variants, pairing a 2.5-litre petrol engine with a 150kW electric motor and 22.7kWh high-capacity lithium-ion battery. Total system output will be 201kW (FWD) and 227kW (AWD).
Toyota says it is targeting an electric-only driving range of up to 100km for the RAV4 PHEV and that the battery will support DC fast-charging with a 50kW onboard charger. According to the carmaker, this can replenish the battery from 10 to 80 per cent in 30 minutes, while an 11kW AC charger needs about three hours for an equivalent supply.
More: 2026 Toyota RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid preview: price, specs, release date in Australia
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