Toyota's new RAV4 compact SUV is longer, wider, lower and better-looking than the outgoing car, but faces very stiff competition in a segment where it is a long way from the top, writes Brian Byrne.
Last year the vehicle didn't get inside the top ten of comparable SUV-type cars in Ireland, in a segment dominated by Nissan's Qashqai, Hyundai's ix35 and Kia's Sportage.
Perhaps there's some small comfort in the fact that even VW's Tiguan, the segment leader by a long shot across the rest of Europe, only managed a little more than twice the 238 units sold of the Toyota car. Also, that the RAV4 was on runout didn't help.
The fact remains, though, that in a fiercely competitive segment worth around 10,000 units a year, the local Toyota importer has to get through some pretty rough terrain to become relevant again in the compact SUV scene. The arrival of the new generation Ford Kuga next week won't make it any easier.
From its launch in 1994, the RAV4 was segment leader across Europe, but had slipped to sixth at the end of 2012.
Now in its fourth generation, the latest RAV4 is 30mm wider, 205mm longer and 25mm lower than its predecessor. Boot space is also up, by 16 percent to 547L. Toyota has also improved the level of in-car technology, now offering its touch-screen multimedia system and rear view camera.
The new RAV4 went on sale last week at a starting price of €27,495. Road tax is now from €270 a year (Tax Band B1).
