Toyota makes RAV4 bigger, more premium

LISBON, Portugal – Toyota’s once small RAV4 SUV has grown bigger. Toyota made its third-generation design larger to help keep the car’s lead in the European medium SUV segment.

But the Japanese automaker also is moving the RAV4 more upmarket to compete in the emerging European premium SUV segment.

The new RAV 4, which goes on sale this month, is 145mm longer at 4395mm. Compared with the original 1994 three-door version, the car has moved up a full segment.

“The first and second RAV4 shared Carina and Corolla platform elements,” said Michihiko Sato, chief engineer of Toyota Development Center 1 in Japan.

In an interview at the RAV 4’s press launch here, he added that the car’s third generation is based on the ‘new MC’ global platform. This can also be used for upper-medium car models such as the Avensis.

Toyota’s platform definition differs from most other carmakers.

“It is not so much about common hardware. It is more about shared development processes,” said Alain Dujardyn, Toyota Europe’s manager of SUV marketing.

The new RAV4 has two versions: a standard five-seat model for Europe and most other global markets and a seven-seat model with a 165mm longer wheelbase for the US.

The RAV4 was designed in Japan. Toyota’s studio there won an internal contest with Toyota’s ED4 studio in Sofia Antipolis, France. The RAV4 will be built in Japan.

Toyota is confident that it will keep its SUV leadership position in Europe. But competition is increasing. Andrea Formica, European vice president of marketing and sales, expects that the European medium SUV market will grow from today’s 400,000 units to 700,000 by 2010.

“It is a fierce competition in a segment that you can divide into three sub segments: the Koreans at the lower end, the Japanese, and the premium offerings such as BMW X3 which seem to enjoy a free ride,” said Formica.

He expects more competition in the future from mainstream brands such as Opel, Volkswagen and PSA/Peugeot-Citroen.

Opel will launch its Antara medium SUV at the Geneva auto show later this month. Starting in 2007, Mitsubishi will supply PSA with 30,000 units annually of two new SUVs for the Peugeot and Citroen brands based on the new Mitsubishi Outlander that went on sale last September. VW is planning to launch an SUV based on the Golf in 2007.

Toyota aims to win sales from BMW X3 buyers with the RAV4X flagship variant. The RAV4X has power-adjustable leather seats, run-flat tires on 18-inch alloy wheels, cruise control and Toyota’s 180hp D-4D diesel engine mated to a six-speed manual gearbox.

“With the RAV4X version, which will be priced within the E30,000 to E35,000 price bracket, we are moving upward,” Formica said. “We expect to sell 15 percent of our total volume against premium models such as the BMW X3.”

In 2007, Toyota expects the segment for premium, medium-sized SUVs to grow in Europe to 75,000 units from 46,000 in 2004.

The RAV4’s standard equipment includes heated and electrically adjusted leather seats and an integrated active-drive system that combines four-wheel-drive, electronic power steering and vehicle stability control.

Toyota’s European sales goal is 100,000 RAV4s annually of which about 80 percent will have diesels.

The target markets are 35- to 45-year-old parents and 55- to 65-year-old empty nesters.