- Toyota is focused on improving, not reinventing, the RAV4 with the new generation.
- The SUV made up 25% of Toyota’s US sales in H1 2024 and could hit 500,000 units this year.
- Company officials acknowledge that the RAV4 has achieved Camry-like sales figures.
The next-generation Toyota RAV4, slated for a 2025 arrival, is unlikely to undergo a dramatic transformation. As Toyota’s top-selling SUV, the company is reportedly opting for a cautious approach, prioritizing strategic refinements over radical changes to preserve its winning formula.
In the first half of 2024, the RAV4 accounted for nearly a quarter of Toyota’s US sales, with 248,295 units (+33%). 111,526 of them were hybrids and 17,074 plug-in hybrids, resulting in a 52 percent sales mix for electrified RAV4s.
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If the SUV continues attracting buyers at its current rate, it could reach 500,000 sales this year, surpassing the 2019 peak of 448,071 sales. The automotive landscape was disrupted by the pandemic and subsequent supplier shortages. In 2023, the RAV4 was the second best-selling vehicle globally, with 1.075 million units.
Speaking to Auto News, Cooper Ericksen, Head of Product Planning for Toyota Motor North America stated: “RAV4 is easy. We have other product segments that are difficult, but the customer has spoken clearly with what they want with the RAV4: The size, the packaging, the level of performance, technology. We could sell 500,000 of those things a year if we could build them, so we do not want to mess up that formula.”
2024 Toyota RAV4 Prime
The current Toyota RAV4 has been on the market since late 2018, so a redesign is overdue and could arrive as early as 2025. Ericksen didn’t confirm plans for the model’s successor but noted that “if we were to change, it wouldn’t be a dramatic change.”
The high-ranking official elaborated on what to expect from the upcoming model: “We do not want to mess up that formula, so how do you then improve upon it? Modernizing it, meeting regulations for emissions, keeping an eye on our competitors and making sure we’re making the right product improvements. But this is not a dramatic change.”
The RAV4 Is The New Camry
Andrew Gilleland, Head of Automotive Operations for Toyota Motor North America, said, “The RAV4 has turned into our Camry over the last 10 years in terms of sales“, describing the compact SUV as the kind of vehicle that people want.
The Camry, recently updated with a hybrid-only range, may still hold the title of the most popular car in the US over the past 22 years. However, its segment has significantly shrunk compared to SUVs. Last year, Toyota sold 290,649 Camrys in the US, a steep decline from its peak of 473,108 units in 2007.
Mark Montenero, CEO of Autoland Toyota in Springfield and Chairman of the Toyota National Dealer Advisory Council, describes the RAV4 as the “cornerstone of Toyota dealers,” appealing to a “diverse range of customers.”
