Toyota RAV4 remains unrated by ANCAP, but five-star result expected after late-2026 testing

Still unrated, with a five-star result anticipated

The official ANCAP safety ratings website currently lists the sixth-generation Toyota RAV4 as unrated. The page shows the medium SUV, on sale in Australia and New Zealand from March 2026 and offered as a hybrid and plug-in hybrid, has not yet been tested, with full details to be added if and when a rating becomes available. ²

That should change before the end of the year. Toyota Australia's vice president of national sales, marketing and franchise operations, John Pappas, told CarExpert the Australian RAV4 is similarly specified to the European version, which has been scheduled for Euro and ANCAP testing in the last quarter of 2026. He said testing was on schedule and that Toyota was anticipating a five-star ANCAP rating as a result. ¹

Pappas's expectation is shared by other senior Toyota figures. Senior product planning specialist Peter Phan told Australian media at the RAV4's launch, as reported by GoAuto, that the model was expected to meet the five-star requirements when testing was conducted later in 2026 in alignment with Euro NCAP testing. No rating has yet been published, so a five-star outcome remains a Toyota expectation rather than a confirmed result. ¹⁹

Why the launch happened without a rating

The sixth-generation RAV4 was originally planned for a late-2025 Australian launch and was engineered to meet the 2025 ANCAP and Euro NCAP requirements. Production delays pushed the launch into 2026, when ANCAP introduced tougher new protocols developed with Euro NCAP, meaning the car arrived unrated. Toyota RAV4 chief engineer Yoshinori Futonagane attributed the timeline change to the pursuit of quality, saying the final stages of the vehicle's dynamically interlinked technology took time to satisfy every target, as GoAuto reported. ⁹⁴

The 2026 protocols move ANCAP away from a box-ticking system to a staged approach covering crash protection, crash avoidance technologies, safe driving assistance, and post-crash assistance and rescue information, with greater emphasis on real-world active safety performance and in-car distraction. CarExpert reported the new regime saw BYD withdraw its Sealion 5 from testing, with ANCAP then testing it independently; it achieved a three-star rating. ⁸¹

The car was widely covered at launch. The Beep reported in April 2026 that the RAV4 launched from $45,990 before on-road costs without an ANCAP rating, and Chasing Cars reported Toyota had delayed assessment to make undisclosed active and passive safety changes, with pre-update examples set to remain permanently unrated. ³⁴

The upgrades, and the cars that miss out

Toyota has confirmed the changes needed to meet the 2026 protocols are enhancements to the active and passive safety systems, with no structural modifications. Details of exactly which systems are being updated have not been disclosed. CarExpert reported in October that the upgrades will be included in RAV4 vehicles arriving in Australia from that month. ⁹⁸¹

Cars sold before the updated specification arrives cannot be retrofitted, so early examples will permanently carry no ANCAP score. The Beep estimated that with Toyota forecasting more than 40,000 RAV4 deliveries in 2026, upwards of 15,000 could reach buyers before upgraded models arrive, though that figure is the publication's estimate rather than a Toyota statement. ⁹³

Despite the unrated status, Toyota has repeatedly defended the vehicle's safety. Pappas told CarExpert the RAV4 is the safest ever offered in Australia, and GoAuto quoted him saying the car has the latest Toyota Safety Sense package and that he did not believe resale values of pre-update cars would suffer. GoAuto also noted the outgoing-generation RAV4 achieved a five-star ANCAP score when tested in 2019. ¹⁹

Fleet policies shape the sales picture

The rating matters commercially because many government, business and rental fleet buyers are prohibited by workplace health and safety policies from purchasing vehicles without a five-star ANCAP rating. CarExpert reported these buyers accounted for 39.5 per cent of RAV4 sales in 2025. Pappas told CarExpert Toyota had to manage fleet customers' expectations of timing because of their five-star policies, and said he had received inquiries from fleets about the RAV4. ¹

Chasing Cars, reporting from the launch, quoted Pappas saying anyone with a five-star requirement, such as government, would be worked with on how and when they could order a RAV4. He also said Toyota was seeing strong order intake from private buyers, a point echoed in GoAuto's launch coverage. ⁴⁹

The unrated launch window cost Toyota sales momentum. Pappas told CarExpert the RAV4 was moved from an original first-quarter launch to April, depriving Toyota of a full opening quarter, and that a full year of run rate in 2027 should allow it to satisfy fleet customers waiting for a five-star-rated vehicle. Year-to-date the RAV4 is Australia's fourth best-selling vehicle behind the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux and Tesla Model Y, having topped the monthly charts in April, July and August, according to CarExpert. ¹

Pricing, equipment and the PHEV expansion

The hybrid RAV4 range is priced from $45,990 before on-road costs for the GX 2WD, with the AWD GX at $49,340, the GXL 2WD at $48,990, the GXL AWD at $52,340, the Edge AWD at $55,340, the XSE AWD at $58,340, the Cruiser 2WD at $56,990 and the Cruiser AWD at $60,340, according to CarExpert's pricing table. Plug-in hybrid grades run from $58,840 for the XSE 2WD to $66,340 for the GR Sport AWD. The Beep reported standard equipment includes autonomous emergency braking, full-speed adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring with safe exit assist, eight airbags and the new Arene software platform, with a five-year unlimited-kilometre warranty across the range. ⁶³

The first Australian RAV4 plug-in hybrids launched in July 2026 in XSE and GR Sport grades, and a cheaper GXL 2WD PHEV has been confirmed for the first three months of 2027. Pricing is not yet announced; CarExpert noted the consistent $5000 gap between comparable hybrid and PHEV grades would suggest around $53,990 before on-road costs for the GXL PHEV, while Chasing Cars similarly estimated about $54,000. Both figures are estimates, not confirmed prices. ⁶⁷

The GXL 2WD PHEV will use the same powertrain as the current RAV4 PHEVs, combining a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with a front-mounted electric motor for a combined 201kW, and a 22.7kWh battery delivering a claimed 121km of electric-only driving on the WLTP cycle. CarExpert detailed its equipment, including 18-inch alloy wheels, keyless entry, black cloth trim, an eight-way power-adjustable driver's seat, a 10.5-inch touchscreen and wireless charging, along with a new Drive Mode Select system offering Normal, Eco, Sport, Snow and Custom modes. Chasing Cars reported the GXL PHEV will be front-wheel drive only and will miss out on heated seats, a 360-degree camera, sunroof and power tailgate. ⁶⁷

The plug-in variants have made a strong sales start. CarExpert reported PHEV versions accounted for 39 per cent of RAV4 sales in July 2026, their first full month on sale, with around 2170 sales making the RAV4 PHEV Australia's best-selling plug-in hybrid that month ahead of the BYD Shark 6. ⁶

How the hybrid and plug-in compare

For buyers weighing the two powertrains, Chasing Cars conducted a comparison of identically trimmed XSE AWD models, with the hybrid priced from $59,015 before on-road costs against $64,015 for the plug-in. Its testers drove the PHEV around a 122km road loop twice, first in pure electric mode and then with the battery depleted, to assess real-world electric range and fuel consumption alongside the hybrid's efficiency. The full results are presented in the publication's video comparison. ⁵