Toyota being the Former & one of the Biggest leaders in the Automotive world today - does know how to create a product that could lie in the sweet spot of every customer’s heart. And maybe that is what they did with the Toyota RAV4.

Toyota Rav4 being a Crossover SUV - which to give a simpler example than it lies in the Jeep Compass & Volkswagen Tiguan segment - became the best-selling SUV throughout the whole world. And this surely tells us how definite is the Rav4 for all Premium Midsize SUV buyers.

And to talk about India, currently, it is not on sale in the Toyota showrooms, but it was seen being tested in Pune last year in 2022. Basically, this tells that Toyota has already tried its chance of launching the RAV4 in various International markets, and has received immense success with it, so maybe, now Toyota could think of launching the Rav4 in India to test its well-guaranteed luck.

About the Toyota RAV4

The Toyota RAV4 first planted its roots back in 1994, when it was launched in the Japanese and European markets, and in 1995, it was introduced in the Australian and North American markets and later launched there in 1996

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The aim of Toyota actually building this SUV was to cater to people’s needs of - Increased boot space, Higher visibility, an Optional 4-wheel Drive system, and along with great Maneuverability and fuel economy. In fact, to tell you a trivia, the name Rav4 itself carries the definition for the reason of its existence,

R - Recreational / Robust

A - Active / Accurate

V - Vehicle, with

4 - 4-wheel Drive system

Well, that is fancy! Thus, this is all about the Toyota RAV4 and the reason for its existence.

Variants

Today, the USA-based Toyota RAV4 comes in a total of 13 variations, in which, Toyota has configured the vehicle to suit almost all kinds of users. It has also provided the Rav4 in two major iterations - Hybrid & and Hybrid. The following table explains all the variants & their prices in US Dollars,

Exterior Design

Front

Even though the Toyota Rav4 is an SUV, the front of the car is not that tall. Overall the design of the Rav4 has been done with the like of a Crossover SUV, therefore, it has more curves present than boxy elements in the design.

Starting up front, the Headlamps have been placed at both ends, as obvious. But, they don’t get any kind of split design treatment. All the essentials of the Lighting aspect are placed in one single unit at both ends. The Indicators, the DRLs, and the main LED headlamps are placed together as said. Where, the headlamp unit gets a single LED projector at both ends, with DRLs situated above them, and talking about the Indicators, they have missed out on LED offerings, as they include atypical halogen for its function. 

The Fog Lamps can be seen placed at the lower end of the bumper, and they too get the LED beams for its functions.

Coming down, the bumper gets the typical new-age Toyota SUV treatment, with one body-colored unit separating the Air dams, and the upper small area of the bumper with the rest of the hood. This particular body-colored line also holds the bold Toyota logo in it, though in the picture above you might notice a blue outline on the Toyota Logo, that is because this one is a Hybrid variant as said, and this Blue colored outline is used to state the car as a Hybrid car. Whereas, on the other hand, the non-hybrid variants would get a simple Toyota logo with no Blue colored outline around it. 

The Air dams get a typical Toyota affair, where they can be seen in an elongated angular shape moving upwards till the Toyota logo.

Talking about the Hood, it gets a bulge on both of its shoulders, this design inclusion overall gives the car a rugged SUV look.

Side Profile

Commencing with wheels, it gets an 18-inch Alloy wheel, with a traditional Toyota Alloy wheel design, where it gets a simple plain color option with no diamond-cut effect. These 18-inch Alloy wheels wear the tires which have a 225mm width in them.

Coming upwards, the side cladding over the wheels has been kept minimal, but, the cladding between the two wheels (Front and rear) is much thicker and bigger comparatively. The Wheel arches also have a soft curve in them, which overall gives the SUV a wide appearance.

The Mirrors are also decently large, by which, we could assume that they would get a fairly wide amount of visibility through them.

The Proportion between the window area and the body area is almost similar. It makes the car look very equal from the side.

At the top, we could see Roof Rails, RAV4’s variants are offered with functional Roof Rails. They could be fitted with roof-mounted luggage systems, Toyota offers them separately, as their accessory package.

Rear Profile

The Rear profile of the Toyota RAV4 is pretty much like the Toyota SUVs & MPVs as well. We could take our very well-known Toyota Innova Hycross. The Rear profile of the RAV4 has been done in a way that it looks like the upper half of the rear profile kind of sits upon the lower half, as the upper has been kept jutting out a bit from the primary body line. 

Talking from above, it gets a spoiler treatment, with an Emergency Brake light sitting at the center of it.

We can see that, unlike other SUVs, it gets its Rear View Glass in a sloping manner, which sort of gives it a Crossover SUV aura. The rear Viper has been kept exposed. 

Just below the rear viper, we can also spot a Silverfish Metal line inclusion, which separates the Rearview glass from the rest of the body. The Toyota logo has been attached below the Silver Metal line.

Coming down, the rear bumper has been provided with simplicity, in terms of its design. It has been given no Diffuser treatment. I believe, it also gets complete plastic usage for its build.

And just below the rear bumper, we spot two real Exhausts popping out. We should appreciate Toyota for never letting us down in terms of the exhaust treatments, they are always kept real, unlike other car makers who give a fake design inclusion that looks like an exhaust. Even the Toyota Innova Hycross gets a similar kind of exhaust treatment.

Talking about the Tail lamps, they are almost as big as the Headlamps. They get a 3D look for the Brake light, which by the way, uses LEDs for its functions. And the rest, the Reverse light, and the Indicators use Halogen bulb inclusion.

Interior

The interiors of the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid Limited are up to the mark with respect to other Toyota cars present in India. Though RAV4’s interiors might not be that sophisticated or premium when compared to its Indian rivals the Jeep Compass, and the Volkswagen Tiguan. But, it is also not that of a mess. 

Hard plastics are definitely in use, still, Toyota has managed to keep up a balance with the help of soft-touch leather as well. We can see the dashboard getting a 3-layer format look, with the uppermost being made up of hard plastic, as in all other cars, and the middle layer has been wrapped with Soft touch leather as said. At last, the bottom layer gets a hard plastic feel to it.

In terms of Technology in use, the variant we are talking about, being the top variant too, gets the most amount of technology throughout the Rav4 lineup. It gets a 10-inch Full-color display, which caters to the driver with in-depth vehicular, and utilitarian information. 

Below this, an Automatic Climate control system has been placed, with physically operative buttons. We can also notice the integration of the Seat Ventilation function for both the Front seats. 

The Driver’s display, on the other hand, gets a part Analogue and Digital unit, wherein, we could spot the digital display in the middle of both the analog dials. One of the Analogue dials packs the battery performance details, and the other one gets a set of two dials - the first one being the Fuel gauge, and the other being the Temperature meter.

The Centre console has a simple, yet very clean look to it. It packs the Drive selector at the right, and towards the Driver side, we could spot the 4 4-wheel drive modes selector.

The steering wheel just like all other Toyota’s has been kept simple, yet very usable. With pretty much a big holding grip to it, It also gets the inclusion of steering-mounted controls for Toggling vehicular information on the Driver’s display & for the Cruise Control system, which by the way gets assistance from the ADAS system.

Therefore, the interiors of the Toyota Rav4 have been kept very practical, with a lot of button-operative functions. We can spot minimal screen usage by the Driver, which is a good car trait.

Powertrain

The Rav4 gets a total of 1 engine option, a 2.5 L 4 Cylinder Petrol engine, which further gets divided into two, by offering it in the iterations of Hybrid and non-hybrid powertrains.

2.5 L 4 Cylinder Petrol engine (Hybrid)

It produces a total of 219 hp.

It is also the most fuel-efficient of the two.

2.5 L 4 Cylinder Petrol engine (Non-Hybrid)

It produces a total of 203 hp.

Most probably, if the Rav4 gets launched in India, it will be offered with a Non-Hybrid powertrain, as the Hybrid powertrain could cross the boundaries of being overpriced.

RAV4 India Launch Details 

The Toyota Rav4 is no doubt a great car, and that is why it is the most selling SUV throughout the whole world till now. I believe, it would surely be a good option to have when planning to enter the Premium Midsize SUV segment, as this particular segment already has a lot of issues - Some SUVs are overpriced, Some don’t offer much space, and Some are not trustworthy to be bought with respect to their Brand’s future in India.

So, tackling all of this might become easy, when the king of reliability in the Automobile world enters the arena, it would be a ‘ no second thought ’ kind of a decision.

So Toyota This 5 seater SUV is expected to launch by 2024 if by any chance Toyota plans on launching it in India it can be priced from anywhere around ₹ 35 Lakhs Ex-showroom India making it pretty much in the same price bracket as the Fortuner but will target a whole different customer base