After nearly a year of its worst sales figures in a decade, Toyota is finally building enough RAV4s to match last year’s demand. But it’s still not enough, because we’re about to see the industry crown a new best-selling SUV for the first time since 2017.
The best month ever for the RAV4 hybrid and PHEV still isn’t enough to close the gap on Honda’s hottest seller, which is having an amazing year.
Door Slams On Toyota Regaining Its Sales Crown
Since 2017, the Toyota RAV4 has been the best-selling vehicle in the US that isn’t a full-size pickup. It’s not exactly the kind of thing you hang a banner in the rafters for, but for Toyota, selling close to 500,000 units in each of the last two years, is a big deal.
But the Japanese automaker has been extremely slow to get the newest-generation RAV4 into full production, and sales have suffered. In the first half of the year, the RAV4 was down 35%. Now it’s finally above where it was this month a year ago, with Toyota posting 39,888 sales in October for a threadbare increase of 0.6%. It’s still down 26.2% for the year though, with sales at 293,552 versus 397,797 at the end of last October. But it shows customers still want a RAV when they can get it.
Meanwhile at Honda, things have been going flat-out and it hasn’t stopped. The company reported 34,815 CR-V sales last month, a new October record. That’s not as many RAV4s as Toyota sold, but it’s still a 9.8% increase for Honda’s beloved SUV compared to last year.
Can Honda Fend Off Toyota Next Year?
2026 Honda CR-V TrailSport ExteriorHonda
A deeper dive into the numbers shows some interesting trends. For the year so far, Honda has moved 371,659 CR-Vs, up 9.6% over the first 10 months of last year. While the year isn’t over, Toyota would have to pull off a radical sales miracle while Honda falls on its face to have the bestselling SUV for 2026. But, if the RAV4 returns to form in 2027, Honda’s crown will likely fall. Toyota clocked nearly 480,000 RAV4 sales in 2025, while CR-V might get close to 450,000 this year, one of its best of all time.
At least Toyota can claim victory on the hybrid side. Every one of the nearly 40,000 RAV4s it sold last month was either a hybrid or PHEV. Honda saw 53% of CR-V buyers, around 18,500, take home a hybrid model. The main difference is that Toyota moved to a hybrid-only (or PHEV) lineup with this latest generation, while Honda has not.
It will be a strange year at Toyota, and probably one it will study for a long time. Until last month, it looked like the Camry would be its bestseller, taking back a title it had held for generations. Now the RAV4 has pulled ahead by around 5,000 units, all but ruling out that possibility as well.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
2026 Toyota RAV4 HEV WoodlandToyota
Aside from the direct profits from those sales, does capturing the number-one spot really matter beyond bragging rights? Will even more buyers take the CR-V next year if they see Honda putting America’s bestselling SUV in ads?
Probably not, but Honda probably won’t mind the extra attention. It certainly won’t mind the extra sales, and you can count on Honda and its dealers working to keep the title next year.
