Photo: vburlapp / Instagram
Surprisingly – or not (depending on your POV) – Toyota's RAV4 compact crossover SUVs has not only helped make the sector one of the most important across the worldwide automotive market but also kept its lead as one of the best-selling models of all time, each year since it was introduced in 1994.
Three decades later, the iconic nameplate is still going strong even though its fifth generation is starting to get a little long in the tooth. The cadence of RAV4 iterations has been a fast one until now – 1994 to 2000 for the original, to 2005 for the second generation, to 2012 for the third, and to 2018 for the fourth.
The current fifth iteration has already gone through a classic facelift and is still going strong – last year, it was the fourth highest-delivered model in America. If estimates are correct, it's also the second best-selling nameplate worldwide in 2023, behind the rising star of the Tesla Model Y. Naturally, everyone now thinks about RAV4's future.
Including the rumor mill and the imaginative realm of digital car content creators. Opinions, as always, are divided, though. Some believe that Toyota will be afraid to make any drastic changes to the design while the platform remains the same TNGA-K solution as currently employed by the XA50 model. As such, the RAV4 compact crossover SUV would follow in the footsteps of the 2025 Camry, which many see as a thorough refresh of the current generation rather than an all-new generation, as Toyota describes it.
However, others, including Vince Burlapp (aka vburlapp on social media or burlappcar.com), who is a prolific virtual artist that loves to dream of all the latest models across the wide-ranging automotive realm, hope that Toyota will dare to cross into new styling territory like it did with the smaller second-generation C-HR. He believes that based on two elements – unlike with the Camry, the all-new Prius was a well-kept secret, and it seems that Toyota is close-guarding the RAV4 prototypes currently in testing, too.
Also, he subjectively thinks that a safe approach to RAV4's design changes would be a big mistake and brings his latest interpretation of the potential styling for the compact crossover SUV's HEV (hybrid) model as an argument. It's not the first time that this pixel master tried his CGI hand at designing the (XA60) sixth generation Toyota RAV4, and again, he's striving for an edgy and futuristic approach with hidden rear door handles, lots of creases, and ultra-slim LED lighting elements.
So, what do you think? Is Toyota going to risk losing its top sales figures of the current generation with an extravagant design for the next generation RAV4, or will the automaker play it (mega) safe, like so many other times before?
The current fifth iteration has already gone through a classic facelift and is still going strong – last year, it was the fourth highest-delivered model in America. If estimates are correct, it's also the second best-selling nameplate worldwide in 2023, behind the rising star of the Tesla Model Y. Naturally, everyone now thinks about RAV4's future.
Including the rumor mill and the imaginative realm of digital car content creators. Opinions, as always, are divided, though. Some believe that Toyota will be afraid to make any drastic changes to the design while the platform remains the same TNGA-K solution as currently employed by the XA50 model. As such, the RAV4 compact crossover SUV would follow in the footsteps of the 2025 Camry, which many see as a thorough refresh of the current generation rather than an all-new generation, as Toyota describes it.
However, others, including Vince Burlapp (aka vburlapp on social media or burlappcar.com), who is a prolific virtual artist that loves to dream of all the latest models across the wide-ranging automotive realm, hope that Toyota will dare to cross into new styling territory like it did with the smaller second-generation C-HR. He believes that based on two elements – unlike with the Camry, the all-new Prius was a well-kept secret, and it seems that Toyota is close-guarding the RAV4 prototypes currently in testing, too.
Also, he subjectively thinks that a safe approach to RAV4's design changes would be a big mistake and brings his latest interpretation of the potential styling for the compact crossover SUV's HEV (hybrid) model as an argument. It's not the first time that this pixel master tried his CGI hand at designing the (XA60) sixth generation Toyota RAV4, and again, he's striving for an edgy and futuristic approach with hidden rear door handles, lots of creases, and ultra-slim LED lighting elements.
So, what do you think? Is Toyota going to risk losing its top sales figures of the current generation with an extravagant design for the next generation RAV4, or will the automaker play it (mega) safe, like so many other times before?
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