Why The 2026 Toyota RAV4 Is The Most Important New Car This Year
The single most important new car debut of 2025 is coming up fast. More important than any supercar, more important than any heritage nameplate revival, arguably more important than any electric car. It’s not a truck, it’s America’s favorite crossover. We’re about to find out what the 2026 Toyota RAV4 looks like from all angles, but for now, Toyota’s gone and teased the latest of its best-seller.
First, a little bit of a on just how much this matters. Last year, the RAV4 was the third-best-selling car in America. Not third-best-selling Toyota, third-best-selling car. It posted better sales numbers than every Lexus and every Volvo combined, and was only beaten by the Chevrolet Silverado and Ford F-Series, both of which are multiple trucks rolled into one nameplate thanks to heavy duty and electric versions.
When you’re dealing with volume like that, you really want to take the time to get a redesign right. With a new Chevrolet Equinox, the Ford Bronco Sport, a new Honda CR-V, a new Hyundai Tucson, a new Kia Sportage, the Mazda CX-50, a new Subaru Forester, a new Volkswagen Tiguan all having launched since the current RAV4 debuted in 2018, everyone’s fighting for a piece of the RAV4’s pie. Toyota better stay on its A-game.
Photo credit: Toyota
Huh, I guess the “A” in “A-game” stands for aerial in this case, because Toyota’s decided to tease the new RAV4 from above. It’s an angle that doesn’t give the game away, but it does give us enough hints as to what might be in store. For one, the front end looks pretty blocky, with a nearly square plateau in the hood and a fairly blunt nose. We’re looking at stronger hood surfacing than on the current model, and a flatter front.
At the same time, we’re seeing a taper to the greenhouse from above that looks stronger than on the current RAV4, and some fairly pronounced haunches. At the same time, it looks like we’re getting a different D-pillar treatment, and we’re getting a completely different rear lighting setup that doesn’t seem to protrude nearly as much from the body as the on the current model.
Photo credit: Toyota
While exterior photos of the new RAV4 are purposefully vague, it doesn’t take much surfing of Toyota’s regional Instagram pages to produce this image of an interior, shared in a carousel with an overhead shot of the new RAV4 from the Czech Toyota account. Although low in resolution, it does give us a good glimpse of what the cabin of the next RAV4 will be like. As expected, both a heads-up display and Toyota’s driver monitoring system make an appearance, while thick-bezeled infotainment and instrument cluster screens adopt a semi-floating form. Compared to other iterations of Toyota’s new cluster, it seems that the steering wheel controls have been cleaned up, although the angle of the shot makes it hard to tell if that massive new screen is paired with a volume knob.
However there are enough pixels here to learn that some climate functions have been moved to the touchscreen of the new RAV4, a step backward for anyone in a cold enough climate to need gloves for portions of the year. However, I do spy what may be a button pad on the dashboard, so we’ll have to see .
Photo credit: Toyota
What else can we expect from the next RAV4? Well, don’t be surprised if there’s increased focus on electrification. The Camry sedan and Sienna minivan have already gone all-hybrid, so there’s a good chance hybrid sales mix expands on the RAV4 compared to the previous one, even if a pure combustion powertrain stays as an option. At the same time, expect the electrified powertrain to be Toyota’s fifth-generation system, sharing tech with the Camry since the models are expected to share a platform. This should translate to increased efficiency, which is exactly what buyers want to see.
Expect to learn a whole lot more about the new RAV4 on May 20, when Toyota’s set to show off its revamped U.S. best-seller for real. It’s only a matter of time before it’s absolutely everywhere in the real world, so get ready to get acquainted with the latest of America’s favorite crossover.
graphic credit: Toyota
