The 2026 Toyota RAV4 is on sale in Australia from $45,990 plus on-road costs. It is the new generation of the most popular passenger car in the country. It does not have an ANCAP safety rating, and it will not have one until later in 2026.

Toyota's position is that the new RAV4 was engineered for the 2024 ANCAP protocols, then production was delayed, and by the time it reached the Australian market the rules had changed. The 2026 to 2028 protocol set is built around what ANCAP calls Stages of Safety, with new tests for driver distraction, in-car attention monitoring, and the real-world performance of crash avoidance systems. The RAV4 was not engineered for those tests, so it has not been put through them.

What buyers are actually getting

Six grades, front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive, hybrid only at launch with the plug-in hybrid arriving in March. The hybrid range tops out at the Edge AWD at $58,360. The PHEV starts at $58,840 for the XSE 2WD, with the GR Sport AWD at $66,340. All prices plus on-road costs. The PHEV claims 100km of WLTP electric range and supports 50kW DC fast charging.

Toyota Australia describes the new RAV4 as the safest RAV4 ever, on the back of a wider standard active safety suite and revised cabin materials. The brand says running production changes through the back half of 2026 will bring the car up to the five star ANCAP target.

Here is what that means in practice. If you take delivery of a RAV4 in May or June, your car will not be the one that eventually scores five stars. The cars that achieve that rating will have hardware or software changes Toyota has not yet specified, applied to vehicles built later in the year. Early buyers cannot retrofit them.

Where it sits against the safety field

Every direct rival currently on sale in Australia with a five star ANCAP rating is testing against the older protocols, so the comparison is not clean. But the RAV4 is now the only top ten passenger nameplate going to market with no ANCAP score at all. The Mazda CX-5, which will be replaced next year, still carries its five star rating. The Hyundai Tucson, the Kia Sportage, the Nissan X-Trail, the GWM Haval H6, and the MG HS all have current ratings.

The closest analogue is the Subaru Forester, which launched its hybrid this month with a five star rating tested under the 2025 protocols. Subaru got across the line. Toyota did not.

Cartell Assessment

Toyota will sell every RAV4 it can land at any price, because the badge prints money in Australia, because the queue is already five figures long, and because most buyers will not check the ANCAP database before signing. That does not make this fine. ANCAP exists so that buyers do not have to take the manufacturer's word for it on safety, and Toyota has chosen to ask Australian buyers to take its word for it on the most popular passenger car in the country.

There is also a precedent question worth flagging. If the highest volume nameplate in the market can launch without a rating and ANCAP does not have the leverage to delay it, every brand watching this will note that the rating is now optional. That is the part that matters longer term.

AU Outlook

If safety is your buying criterion and you want a five star rating in your driveway today, the RAV4 is not the car. The Forester Hybrid is. If you want the RAV4 specifically and you can afford to wait, hold for the late 2026 running change and confirm with the dealer that your VIN is the updated specification. If you have already ordered, ask Toyota in writing whether your delivery vehicle will be eligible for any retrofit. Get the answer on letterhead.