Toyota's Top-Selling RAV4 Becomes Hard to Find as Production Lags
North American RAV4 output fell 30% through September, leaving U.S. dealers with about four days of supply, the Wall Street Journal reports.
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what happened
According to The Wall Street Journal, Toyota kept building the outgoing RAV4 into the fourth quarter of last year, delaying the retooling of its plants for the new generation. As a result, output of the crossover in North America dropped 30% through September, according to AutoForecast Solutions, and U.S. sales are down 29% so far this year.
Toyota said its U.S. dealers hold roughly four days of supply, while Motor Intelligence put the U.S. average at 51 days in September. Buyers wait months for an order, and nearly every vehicle that arrives is already sold. Toyota says it has built more than 30,000 RAV4s a month across its U.S. and Canadian plants since April.
why it matters
The shortage matters beyond one automaker because demand has shifted toward hybrids as U.S. gas prices rose, and the RAV4 gets more than 40 miles per gallon combined. Toyota had been poised to overtake General Motors in U.S. sales, and a prolonged shortage of its best-selling model could make that harder.
market impact
Toyota and GM: RAV4 shortage weighs on Toyota sales and could delay its move ahead of GM in the U.S.
tags
instruments
sources
- How Toyota's Top-Selling SUV Suddenly Became So Hard to Find — WSJ, 21 October 2026 at 02:00 UTC
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