As compact crossover SUVs essentially dominate many automotive markets around the world these days, the Japanese automaker Toyota can easily pat itself on the back for a job well done.
Essentially, the Asian company kicked off the compact crossover SUV bonanza when it premiered the RAV4 nameplate in Japan and Europe in 1994. The North American version came second in 1995 and has since gone on to represent a smashing success and an integral part of the sector's outstanding performance.
Just think about the figures for a second. During the first six months of the year, the compact crossover SUVs took command of the US car market with more than 1.24 million units delivered – up 15% compared to H1 of 2022. Of that bulk, 187k were Toyota RAV4s, by the way! And they are still going strong, with almost 40k sales in August 2023 alone!
But that doesn't mean they can continue indefinitely to rely on the $28k XA50 RAV4, or the $31,225 RAV4 Hybrid and $43,090 RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid. After all, the current generation has been around town since late 2018, after it originally premiered at the 2018 New York International Auto Show in spring that year. So, how about an all-new, sixth generation?
While the model hasn't been seen in the real world just yet, the imaginative realm of digital car content creators is always in a hurry to fulfill every wish and (most) dreams. As such, Dimas Ramadhan, the virtual automotive artist behind the Digimods DESIGN channel on YouTube, has taken up the task of revealing an all-new RAV4 – with a twist.
The pixel master is no stranger to envisioning the all-new 2024 or 2025 Toyota RAV4 (XA60), and this CGI author is always keen on playing with misconceptions or DNA slicing. For example, when he imagined the 'normal' RAV4, he gave it a little Lexus mascara, but now he is on to a revival of some sort. More precisely, he is trying to bring back the electric RAV4 produced over two generations between 1997-2003 and 2012-2014.
As with most digital projects stemming from this author's portfolio, there's an inherent quirkiness to the design of the third-gen RAV4 EV because the compact Toyota crossover SUV gets a restyling treatment that's more consistent with a deep facelift rather than an all-new model – the pixel master reworked the headlights within the latest trends and also cooked up a fresh taillight assembly. On the other hand, the profile was mainly left untouched – save for a new pair of silver alloy wheels.
So, would you fancy an 'all-new' Toyota RAV4 EV that only slightly updates the styling of the current XA50 iteration, or would you prefer the bZ4X right now instead of waiting for a complete overhaul of the ICE-powered versions and an electric variant that may never be?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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