To some degree, the RAV4 is representative of where Toyota is as a company. When the marque first launched in 1994, it introduced the concept of the compact crossover, a reminder of Toyota’s ingenious engineering and marketing ways. With the second-generation model, it turned a sporty leaf, a perfect metaphor for Toyota’s sporty ways at the time. By the time the third- and fourth-generation models rolled in, the RAV4 lost its way, becoming more analgesic than exciting. But when Akio Toyoda declared that Toyota must make better cars, the RAV4 responded in a very big way.
