• Toyota shared a few images of the 2026 RAV4 ahead of its unveiling on May 20th.
The RAV4 SUV is the sales juggernaut of a Toyota lineup that has a few of those. Just last year, the automaker sold around half a million units of the compact SUV on the North American continent.
That’s all the more impressive given that the current RAV4, introduced for the 2019 model-year, is entering the home stretch in its current form. The new generation is coming for 2026, and it is a will significant moment for the manufacturer.
To set the stage for the model's unveiling on May 20th, Toyota today shared three images showing us… three times the same view. From a healthy distance. In fact the company didn't even confirm that it is the RAV4, though that’s a very badly kept secret. The images are quite clearly of a compact SUV.
What we get is a top-down view of the SUV, set within three completely different landscapes and environments: a winding country road, a suburban street and a snowy path. It’s of course impossible to discern anything about the next RAV4’s styling, other than that the rather square front end seems consistent with photos of camouflaged versions that have been seen online.
So we know the RAV4 is getting a more vertical design, C-shaped headlights and trapezoidal wheel arches. In one of the images shared today, the SUV sports a two-tone finish (black roof, red body).
Powertrain of the 2026 Toyota RAV4
It’s expected that, like with the Camry, the SUV’s powertrain will be hybrid from start to finish. It would be surprising to have any surprises on that front; the plug-in hybrid variant, now named PHEV (and no longer Prime), will also be part of the lineup. We’ll have to see if all variants are offered initially, or if the PHEV comes later.