Toyota RAV4 Hybrid waiting period is over six months now

The waiting time for Toyota’s popular RAV4 Hybrid Cruiser has been fluctuating a little too much. The automaker had recently said that the waiting period for the car has been cut to just three months. However, it has confirmed to CarAdvice, a popular web magazine in Australia, that the maximum waiting time for the hybrid car is nearly eight months.

One of the reasons for the long waiting period could be the popularity of the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid. The automaker expected that the petrol-electric car would take up around 20% of the total RAV4’s sales figures, but it turned out to take up close to 60%. This resulted in the waiting period increasing to four months initially. Following that, CarAdvice’s podcast service caught Sean Hanley, VP of sales at Toyota, saying that the wait could be longer.

Mr. Hanley also went up to assure that the company is working on getting the waiting period down to six months by the end of February. Post that, the period could get smaller by the second half of the year. He even turned down various complaints from buyers about the waiting being 12 months, saying that it around 6-8 months as of now.

He also accepted that the communication by Toyota with the dealerships and buyers could be a little more transparent regarding the waiting period. The automaker has recognised the flaw and is working towards getting things right. The communication about the waiting period would be intimated to the customers by the dealers.

The Toyota RAV4 Hybrid has been doing well in the Australian automobile scene. It has been the pick in the mid-sized SUV under $60,000 category and holds a 19% market share. The RAV4 Hybrid Cruiser is one of the top variants in the lineup and has a combined power output of 215 hp for the 2WD and 219 hp for the AWD. The peak torque from the combustion engine alone is 221 Nm.

Toyota presently sells the hybrid for the RAV4 in the GX, GXL and Cruiser trim levels, of which, the latter has the longest waiting period.

Also read: Toyota RAV4 - Variants explained