The automotive industry has spent years convincing buyers that SUVs are the only body style that matters, with crossovers steadily replacing sedans in driveways across America. That shift helped create some dominant sales leaders, but 2026 is proving that consumer tastes aren’t always as predictable as they seem.

A surprising shake-up is unfolding within one of the world’s biggest automakers, with supply constraints, changing powertrains, and fresh model updates completely rearranging the pecking order. Most shocking of all, the company’s top-selling vehicle is no longer the crossover everyone expects, suggesting that the humble sedan may still have far more life left in it than many assumed.

The RAV4 is no longer Toyota’s best-selling vehicle in 2026 (so far)

Despite a complete overhaul, the crossover struggles to gain traction

For the 2026 model year, Toyota completely overhauled the RAV4. They got rid of the non-hybrid powertrain options, gave it a sleeker exterior look, and updated the interior so that it now feels much more modern. Despite all of this work, the crossover has struggled to find the same kind of success as it usually does, with the second quarter figures actually showing a decline in sales.

Toyota RAV4 sales Q2 2026

Traditionally, the RAV4 was not only the best-selling vehicle in the Toyota lineup, but it was the most popular SUV in the United States, and not by a small margin either. While the Honda CR-V often sat just behind the RAV4 in terms of units sold, Toyota’s crossover was the undeniable king. Since its overhaul, however, things have changed quite drastically. Production issues have been a core reason for this, but we also think that not every buyer is ready to make the switch over to a hybrid.

At the end of the second quarter of 2026, Toyota has sold almost 100,000 fewer units than they did last year in the same period. Compared to the 153,995 RAV4 units that Toyota has sold, Honda has managed to sell a whopping 226,114 CR-Vs.

Toyota tries to soften this blow in their press release by claiming that this is the best-ever sales that the “RAV4 Hybrid” has achieved, but that’s because buyers now have no other option than to buy a hybrid. Besides, there is another model in Toyota’s lineup that has become a hybrid-only affair that now sits at the top of the stack, well above the RAV4.

The most popular car in Toyota’s lineup is actually a sedan

The Camry shows sedans are still cool

There has been a pretty major shift to SUVs in the last couple of years, with automakers cutting down their lineup of sedans and hatchbacks to make way for bigger-raised vehicles instead. It is in this context that the RAV4 established its dominance in the market. However, there is a sedan in Toyota’s stable that is proving that buyers still value the body style, with it garnering more sales in Q2 than any of the brand’s other vehicles.

Toyota Camry sales Q2 2026

Just like the RAV4, the Camry has also gone through a pretty recent overhaul. The Japanese brand got rid of the gasoline variants, leaving a hybrid setup being your only choice. On top of this, they gave it a styling update, inside and out, which it was in desperate need of, and imbued it with a ton of new technology. Despite the price increase that came along with these changes, the Camry has been on an upward trend that no other sedan on the market can match.

With 179,044 units sold at the end of Q2 2026, the Camry now exists as the best-selling vehicle to wear a Toyota badge. A big part of this success was experienced earlier this year, though its sales do continue to grow. Those with keen eyes will have already noted that Toyota did manage to sell more RAV4s in June than they did Camrys, but the hybrid crossover still has a long way to go to catch up to the mid-size sedan.

The Toyota 4Runner has become the brand’s fastest growing SUV

Buyers clearly like the updated off-roader

While there are still a couple of models in the Toyota lineup that outsell the 4Runner, it has had a fantastic year so far. The Japanese off-roader has always been pretty popular thanks to its rugged and sturdy reputation, which is why people were so nervous when it entered a new generation for the 2025 model year. However, the sales figures show just how successful the update has been, with the 4Runner showing immense growth.

Toyota 4Runner sales Q2 2026

At the end of the first quarter, back in April, it became clear that 4Runner sales were increasing at an unbelievable rate. Compared to the same period in 2025, the nameplate had seen an increase in sales of 294 percent, meaning that the Japanese brand had effectively quadrupled the number of units moved. Now that the year’s second quarter has come to a close, we can see that this rising popularity was anything but a fluke.

While maybe not as impressive as Q1’s figures, at the end of Q2 Toyota has still managed to sell more than double the 4Runners than they did last year in the same period. The slight slow down does make some sense, as the updated 4Runner that we have now was launched in March of 2025. Regardless, the meteoric rise of Toyota’s off-road SUV is exceptionally impressive, with it catching up to some of the traditionally better sellers in the Japanese automaker’s lineup.

While there are signs that things might stabilize, Toyota’s hierarchy has been turned on its head

Toyota has been hit by a wave of different factors that have made it difficult to get their new RAV4 out of the factory and on to dealership floors. This means that the SUV that once dominated all other SUVs in terms of sales has had quite a fall from grace. In the wake of this, a number of other Toyotas have taken the chance to shine. Surprisingly, the brand’s best seller isn’t even an SUV anymore, with the Camry proving that sedans still have a place in the market.

While there are signs that things could slowly but surely be returning to normal for the brand, with RAV4 sales numbers beginning to recover, there’s no denying that the Toyota hierarchy has completely shifted. Buyers are experiencing the other vehicles the brand has to offer, and this shift could be more than just short-lived.