Toyota RAV4 overtakes Mazda CX-5 in race to be crowned Australia’s favourite SUV

Toyota’s RAV4 has staked an early claim in the race to be  crowned Australia’s favourite SUV, closing January ahead of the Mazda CX-5 and kicking the year off as the country’s best-selling medium SUV. 

The Toyota vs Mazda battle for top spot in the medium SUV segment has waged for years, with the smaller Japanese brand staying 4000 units ahead of the RAV4 (26,173 vs 22,165) in 2018. 

But off the back of an all-new model in May 2019 (and a CarsGuide Car of The Year award), Toyota managed to outsell the CX-5 every subsequent month to close the gap last year, finishing on 24,260 sales – a whisker behind the Mazda’s 25,539 units. 

And Toyota is off to a flyer in 2020, putting 2290 RAV4s in garages in January, with Mazda now trailing after 1859 examples of the CX-5 found homes last month.

So does Australia have a new favourite SUV? It’s too soon to say, but with an all-new CX-5 reportedly not due til 2023, the pressure is on Mazda to maintain its number one spot this year.