The arrival of the latest Toyota RAV4 has reignited hopes the Japanese carmaker will give the green light to a ute version of Australia’s favourite SUV.

The RAV4 was the best-selling SUV in Australia last year, with more than 51,000 vehicles bought, and the top-selling vehicle overall globally – beating Tesla’s Model Y.

Australian sales surged further when the latest, sixth-generation version of the RAV4 landed in showrooms here in April, with a plug-in hybrid version due around July. The new car has garnered largely positive reviews, especially for its fuel efficiency.

Now, recent comments by a Toyota executive have prompted renewed speculation that Toyota might be moving closer to launching a compact ute – or “pick-up truck”, in American terms – influenced by the popular SUV.

The CEO of Toyota Motor North America, Tetsuo Ogawa, told the US-based Automotive News website there was sufficient demand for a compact ute.

“For the compact truck? Definitely, we have such demand,” Ogawa said.

“A RAV4-based pick-up is an opportunity for us, and the dealers are waiting. Maybe they say we need today or tomorrow, but it takes time.”

His comments indicate the vehicle may be bigger than some had envisaged, Drive.com.au reported, adding that they also opened the door to “hybrid powertrain compatibility, including the RAV4’s plug-in hybrid system”.

Toyota’s new RAV4, unveiled globally in 2025, is already proving popular in Australia.

Last year, shortly after the 2026 RAV4 was unveiled overseas, digital content creator Theottle released a mock-up imagining what a ute based on the SUV would look like.

“Toyota pickup trucks are popular. So how about a unibody pickup from Toyota? Specifically a ute variant of the latest RAV4,” Theottle wrote in the caption for their YouTube video.

“I think it will compete well against Chevrolet Montana, Fiat Toro, Ram Rampage and Renault Oroch.”

Around the same time, Bloomberg reported that a Toyota executive had confirmed the carmaker was considering a “compact truck”.

“We could really do well in that segment, so we’re trying to do it,” Toyota Motor North America’s Cooper Ericksen said.

“It’s a matter of timing.”

Some reports have suggested that the new model might be only a few years away and could possibly debut as early 2027, but others claim US trade tariffs introduced by President Donald Trump could affect Toyota’s plans.

If a RAV4-inspired ute does get the green light and make it to Australia, it would buck the recent trend for oversized, brash American-style utes that have become increasingly popular in in recent years.

Some of these so-called “monster trucks” have sparked concerns about road safety, prompting vehicle safety body ANCAP to recently test their “crash avoidance” capability.

Overall, utes account for around one in five vehicles sold in Australia, with NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury saying recently that utes have had “a stronghold” in the market for almost two decades.

“If you look at the breakdown of new cars and the type of car sold, the majority is still held overwhelmingly by SUVs and new larger vehicles,” he told the ABC.

Soaring fuel prices did dent ute sales figures in April, while at the same time interest in electric vehicles and hybrids has surged.