Australia's new car king: Mazda CX-5 Hybrid and Toyota RAV4 Hybrid to battle it out for supremacy as the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger rivalry takes a back seat

One of Toyota Australia’s top executives has called an end to the dual-cab dominance at the top of the Aussie sales charts.

Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Franchise Operations, Sean Hanley, told CarsGuide earlier this year a ute was unlikely to be the best seller moving forward.

The Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux have sat on top of the podium for about a decade, but the influx of new ute models this year will likely close that chapter.

“We already know that the number of ute models available to Australian buyers will expand rapidly. They’ll be competing for an overall ute market that is likely to remain steady, which suggests that the average sales per model will come down as a result,” said Hanley.

“It may be, and I stress maybe, that an SUV could rise to the top of the national sales charts in the next year or two, and just maybe that SUV will be a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid,” he said.

The Toyota RAV4 seems like the obvious candidate for the top spot, after finishing second overall last year and in pole position after one month in 2025.

Except, a new challenger is looming, which will pour fuel on an old rivalry.

A new CX-5, which might not be called CX-5 but CX-40 instead, is in the works and it will be powered by new hybrid technology developed in-house by Mazda.

The CX-5 and the RAV4 have historically gone toe-to-toe for the crown of the most popular SUV for the best part of a decade.

Only recently has the RAV4 put several lengths on the CX-5, mainly due to the Mazda’s lack of hybrid power that has become a must-have item in the mid-size family SUV.

A recent patent revealed the details of how the CX-5’s new hybrid tech works. No surprise it works a lot like the Toyota tech but with one small difference.

What is unique about the Mazda patent is the position of the control module that tells the electric motors what to do. It is situated right on top of the e-motor, meaning no need for heavy cables. It also keeps the set-up nice and compact, which aids in packaging.

Mazda has yet to reveal its reworked CX-5, but digital renders have been popping up online with the vehicle keeping its look inline with the brand's range of larger SUVs, such as the Mazda CX-60, CX-70, CX-80 and CX-90.

Toyota isn’t taking this challenge lying down, though.

The carmaking giant is preparing a new RAV4 that will move the goalposts even further ahead.

It will bring new styling that mimics the look of the new Camry and C-HR with its crimped bonnet and Lexus-like lower grille.

It is also expected to have hybrid, plug-in hybrid and even full electric options, according to Japanese publication BestCar.

The hybrid version is expected to use the same set-up as the new Camry sedan, which means either 168kW in front- or 173kW in all-wheel-drive guise.

A plug-in-hybrid version is vital for the brand to navigate Australia’s new emissions regulations, as a standard hybrid won’t meet the CO2 threshold in a few years time.

The battery version is expected to take the place of the slow-selling bZ4X, with a RAV4 name expected to bring much more cache to the brand’s mid-size EV.

If you are in the market for a hybrid mid-size family SUV, it’s going to be an interesting next 12 months.