UPDATE: April 2, 2026 Added new information on RAV4 pricing and how the sales decline impacts Toyota's financial status.March was a very interesting month for Toyota sales. Its best-selling vehicle, which is also usually the best-selling vehicle in the US that isn't a pickup, tanked. And by that, we mean tanked hard.The Toyota RAV4 saw sales cut almost in half for not just March, but the entire first quarter. It's so bad that the Nissan Rogue just beat it for the first time ever. That's a very rough start to what could be a very rough year. Interestingly, the rest of the brand's models, including the BZ electric and 4Runner SUV, saw their own sales climb enough to come impressively close to canceling out the RAV4's tumble. New RAV Rollout Means No Production, For A While Jared Rosenholtz/CarBuzz/Valnet Toyota recently launched an all-new RAV4, and since the 2026 model year started to roll out, sales have fallen off of the proverbial cliff. Last month, sales were down from 41,509 a year ago to just 21,693. Year to date, the figure has gone from 115,402 to 59,869. That's a drop in sales equivalent to the entire run of Toyota Highlanders sold last year.What's the problem? Production. Toyota hasn't ramped up its plant in Kentucky to build it. Look through the handful of 2026 RAV4 models in dealer inventory, and the VINs all show they were built in Japan or Canada. Since those plants can't meet everyone's demand, there just aren't enough vehicles. This should get better, but it's going to take time.A Toyota spokesperson told CarBuzz that "RAV4 volume was impacted by the model changeover to the all-new model," saying that "as is typical during a transition like this, production and availability can be affected as manufacturing shifts from the outgoing model to the new one."Toyota's production is continuing to ramp up. We're told that the Japanese automaker expects to be back at full capacity by the summer. Still, that's nearly a half-year's worth of diminished sales. Considering this vehicle had almost 500,000 sales last year, that's going to be felt on the company's bottom line. Slumping RAV4 Sales Are A Billion-Dollar Problem To get a better understanding of RAV4's importance in Toyota's lineup, a quick look at the CarBuzz pricing database shows just how popular this SUV is among buyers. 2024 model-year prices haven't seen the typical depreciation that normally occurs within the first couple of years. The previous-generation RAV4 is still hovering near its MSRP across most trim levels. And while it's not Toyota's most-expensive offering by a long shot, it wholly outclasses everything else in terms of volume. To make this live for you, here's some basic math. Toyota sold 55,533 fewer RAV4s so far compared to this time last year. At a conservative average selling price of $35,000 per vehicle, that's $2 billion less versus the first quarter of 2025. Fortunately, Other Toyotas Sold Much Better Toyota Elsewhere in Toyota's lineup, the BZ, Grand Highlander, and 4Runner were all smash hits. The BZ EV jumped from 1,678 units a year ago to 4,019 last month, and sales are up 79% for the year. The Grand Highlander seems to have captured plenty of RAV4 customers, jumping from 10,059 to 13,985 for the month and up 35% for the year.The 4Runner saw its sales jump 77%. In March 2025, Toyota sold 6,980, and this year it moved 12,380. So far in 2026, it is up 294%, with 33,244 sales rather than 8,435.Other models had big percentage changes, but little effect on the total. Sales of the already discontinued Supra doubled to 357, GR86 halved to 605, and since most of the Lexus car line has been discontinued, they showed lower as well.Lexus posted a similar electric gain, with the RZ showing 161% growth to 1,842 units. So far this year, it is up 207% to 4,456 sales. The UX was the only other Lexus with a major increase, up 26% to 1,242. NX, GX, and LX were all down, with the rest showing minor increases.On the whole, Toyota and Lexus sales hit 211,617 for the month, down from 231,336 the same month last year. For the quarter, the brand saw sales drop 0.1% from 569,420 to 570,270.No doubt dealers are clamoring to get the new RAV4 in stock and available to sell. For those who do have some ready to go, don't be surprised if you run into steep markups to get the next-gen SUV that, apparently, everyone wants.