In essence, a RAV4 for the 21st century

Now that the RAV4 has grown into something far removed from the 1994 original, it's time to revisit the compact charm that once charaterised the originator of the light-duty SUV segment.

This comes in the form of Toyota's new Urban Cruiser, which is now officially launched in Europe and, really, is the spiritual successor to the first RAV4.

The Urban Cruiser responds to growing awareness of the need to be thoughtful about the consumption of natural resources as well as the car's contribution to climate change: the aim is to bring a small SUV with lower fuel bills and lower exhaust emissions. Toyota says the Urban Cruiser's CO2 emissions figure should come in below 140g/km, helping its overall fleet average.

Although the Urban Cruiser is still bigger than the original RAV, which measured 3695mm long and 1695mm wide, it is smaller than Nissan's recently launched Dualis compact SUV, measuring less than 4000mm long (the current RAV4 is 4600mm, the Dualis 4315mm) and has a girth of 1725mm (latest RAV 1855mm, Dualis 1783mm) with a relatively low-slung height of 1540mm (new RAV 1730mm, Dualis 1623mm).

Toyota says the Urban Cruiser provides room for five, as well as "ample" luggage space, although a fair bet would be that neither is going to be generous.