A Car Without Pimping: Why the Toyota RAV4 Became the Most Popular Car in the World

Top 10 best-selling cars in the world by the end of 2024:

🔹Toyota RAV4 (1,187,000 cars sold! And this is the outgoing generation).

🔹Tesla Model Y (1,185,000 cars sold).

🔹Toyota Corolla Cross (crossover).

True autophiles and connoisseurs of "real" cars with their unique technical innovations are nervously smoking on the sidelines. Peoples of the whole world fell for the unremarkable "Ravchik"? What did they find in it, except for a controversial design with angular wheel arches, boring acceleration from 10.5 seconds to a hundred on a 150 hp engine, a cottony steering wheel, poor sound insulation, wretched multimedia with speakers that insult the ear, an ugly interior, where painted plastic inserts pretend to be polished aluminum?

But you still don't know all the disadvantages of the RAV4. Haven't you heard how the front windows of a new car, when slightly open, dangle and rattle in the door frame until the owner calms them down with an additional seal?

No backlighting in the window control buttons, no light in the glove compartment, a trunk light that illuminates itself and nothing else, headlights that are constantly on with no way to turn them off manually, leaks through the roof rail mounts, paintwork that is vulnerable to rust after chips and scratches... Is that all?

Not all. You haven't heard yet what service technicians say about replacing the filter in the CVT, which requires removing the entire gearbox, about thin piston rings, like cheap Chinese engines, about weak K-120 CVT bearings, about breaking latches on the cabin filter cover, about short-lived pumps and thermostat, weak engine mounts, a sticking VVTi valve...

Finally, everyone forgot that it was an off-road vehicle for active recreation of cheerful girls only at the time of its birth in 1994, and now the Recreation Active Vehicle may not have all-wheel drive at all, and those who have it do not risk driving further than dirt roads. Because as a result of 30-year evolution, the car has become a mass-market one. Instead of girls active in nature, RAV4 is bought by calm American grandmothers and housewives, for whom the vehicle is a leisurely string bag on wheels. It is for their tastes and wallets that Toyota is trying.

"Toyota is a kind of "Zhiguli" among foreign cars. I remember two years ago, when I was considering buying a new RAV4, I opened the door of the dealer's car and immediately wanted to close it - it immediately became clear that I would not want to drive it. Maybe it is super reliable for a long period of ownership, but I would constantly have to put up with the feeling that I was deceived somewhere. Not my thing," a car enthusiast laments in one of the chats. And it is hard to disagree with him.

The first generation RAV4s are still driving! Photo: Auto.ru

But RAV4 fans aren't all suckers in the automotive field either. After all, there are repair statistics for 30 years. It leads to a conclusion that other automakers can only dream of: if you drive on normal roads in normal modes, undergo scheduled maintenance in normal service centers, then the "Ravchiks" travel 250-300 thousand kilometers without any problems for their owners. And that's ten years for average operation.

And what is important: the cost of consumables and spare parts is incomparably lower than that of competitors famous for their supercars. For Mercedes owners, for example, the price of suspension parts for Toyota will seem absolutely free! So even after wear of certain units, their replacement will not be burdensome, and the car gets a second youth.

The final chord in favor of the Japanese crossover is the price of a used car. Whatever you say, Toyota is getting cheaper much more slowly than the Germans or especially the Chinese. Selling a used car is not time-consuming and difficult.

But does this mean that the RAV4 will remain a world leader in the future?

The sixth generation RAV4 has become significantly more powerful than its predecessors. Photo: Toyota

In May 2025, the world premiere of the new generation RAV4 took place. The new product remained almost the same size and with a recognizable design. But the filling is of a completely different quality and power.

In the global market, the Toyota RAV4 is mainly offered with hybrid powertrains. The self-charging version (HEV) is equipped with a 2.5-liter naturally aspirated engine paired with an eCVT transmission, developing up to 236 horsepower in the US version.

The plug-in hybrid (PHEV) is also based on a 2.5-liter naturally aspirated engine, working in conjunction with two electric motors and a 22.7 kWh battery, providing an electric range of up to 100 km. The total power of this version is 320 horsepower . It is worth noting that in Europe, the PHEV will also be available in a front-wheel drive modification with a capacity of 268 horsepower.

This is much more than in all previous generations of RAV4 with a predominantly two-liter engine with 149 hp. 320 "horses" for a string bag on wheels - isn't it too much? Will grandmothers and housewives appreciate such agility?

Obviously, the prices for the new product will be significantly higher.