The Japanese automaker is trying to protect its turf in a very unique way – the company is flooding the global automotive market with a tidal wave of novelties.
They have been doing this all year long, but even if we only consider the last couple of months, there's an entire list of great introductions. In November, they dropped the latest generation of the 2025 Camry mid-size sedan superstar alongside the 2025 Crown Signia, which, unfortunately, will move to replace the affordable Venza hybrid CUV as the ritzy five-seat crossover SUV option.
They also announced the Yaris Cross update for Europe with a new Premiere Edition and – more importantly – a new Hybrid 130 powertrain borrowed from the more expensive Lexus LBX. Swiftly, the company moved to Thailand to introduce the perfect spiritual successor for the popular Stout compact pickup truck – the recent IMV 0 modular concept transformed into the $13k Hilux Champ, which is utterly adorable yet tough.
Back in Japan, Toyota fulfilled the promise of relaunching the iconic Land Cruiser Series 70 on the local market – bringing back 1984 style in fashion with some modern technical updates. In America, December is keen on celebrating the arrival of the 2024 Tacoma at nationwide dealerships, but the Japanese automaker was also busy with the Kenshiki Forum in Brussels, Belgium, where it presented a massive roster of novelties for Europe across a variety of subjects, from hydrogen and EVs to commercial vehicles.
Oh, and they also launched the pre-order procedures for the 2024 Land Cruiser across the Old Continent – even though the SUV is not expected to arrive at dealerships before the third quarter of next year. As such, you would think they are a bit weary and tired as the year draws closer. Nope, not at all, at least if we are to believe in the imaginative realm of digital car content creators.
Instead, the various outlets trying to envision the next slew of new model introductions from Toyota vary wildly in their imagination, from basic interpretations of the next generation CUV or passenger car to exotic arrivals of compact SUVs that have the same DNA as the Land Cruiser and also pay homage to the FJ Cruiser. Just recently, a bunch of YouTube channels dedicated to automobiles are trying to find out if they can correctly guess the looks of the sixth generation RAV4 from Toyota – they're pretty sure they can't go wrong with the most popular compact crossover SUV, right?
Interestingly, the resident pixel masters from PoloTo, CarsVision, and Car – Interior & Exterior – all think the successor to the XA50 fifth generation will take the easy route of subtly enhancing the looks and feel of the current iteration. It's the safe approach, as Toyota might be weary of alienating the faithful customer base worldwide.
Interestingly, the peeps over at AutomagzPro are a little more radical than that. Instead of just playing with the ICE-powered or Hybrid versions of the RAV4, they remembered that Toyota had a couple of generations of RAV4 EVs and attempted to resurrect the zero-emissions version. Of course, they are also willing to admit the hybrid RAV4 will remain the most popular version in America, its biggest market, so they also rendered the potential looks of the hybrid or plug-in hybrid Prime version. So, what do you think – is Toyota bringing back the RAV4 EV even though it has the bZ5X, or is this just vaporware?
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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