2025 Toyota RAV4 unofficially previewed

The current generation of Australia’s favourite SUV, the Toyota RAV4, has been with us since 2019 and a new one is expected to appear within the next 18 months or so, but it remains to be seen whether it will be an all-new model or a heavy facelift.

Previous Toyota RAV4s have typically enjoyed a six-year production run, which suggests next year’s model will be a new-generation proposition armed with at least an updated platform, tweaked powertrains and a sharp new look accompanied by an all-new interior.

So far we’ve seen or heard of very little about the model, but that hasn’t stopped it being imagined by Russian automotive website Kolesa.ru, which forecasts a more American look for the next-generation 2025 Toyota RAV4.

The most obvious change in this particular render by digital artist Nikita Chuiko is the massive front grille and sharpened headlight arrangement, which combine to make this virtual RAV look much more aggressive than its angular but not particularly imposing predecessor.

This theme is in keeping with Toyota’s current form of making its new models look angrier than their forbearers, with a similar recipe being applied to the 2024 Toyota Camry and GR86 – both of which brandish large trapezoid grilles.

It’s a similar story at the back, where we find a remodelled tailgate and rear lighting signature, the latter now being narrower, full-width and more vibrant.

The overall shell or core body of this imagined RAV4 hasn’t changed much compared to the current model, given it served as the basis for the whole image and that’s understandable, however, we expect the flanks and key lines of the real thing to vary quite a bit.

Odds are the familiar array of petrol and hybrid powertrains will be either updated or binned as per the former in the new Camry, and we wouldn’t be surprised if the best-selling medium SUV goes hybrid-only from its next iteration, like the new C-HR, Camry and Yaris Cross.

Depending on when the new model makes its global debut, it’s more than likely the new RAV4 will hit Australian showrooms in the second half of 2025 or first half of 2026, given Toyota’s relatively long lead times between a model’s reveal and Australian introduction in recent times.

Digital images: Kolesa.ru

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