I fell for the RAV4, conceptually, when I first saw it unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show in January of 1996. It has nonetheless found quite a following in its first four years. With the arrival of the second generation, I predict sales will expand briskly, despite the advent of serious competition. Toyota is predicting 70,000 units a year, up from 60,000.
Pundits attribute that shift to the overall softening of the economy.
That may well be a factor, forcing folks to reexamine how big a monthly payment they can sustain, but my theory is it has more to do with gas prices, which showed a nasty spike while those purchase decisions were being formulated. The weekly fill-up, often paid in cash, can be a louder wakeup call than the monthly payment. The big boys want a gallon every 15 miles or so, and a lot of them disdain anything less than 91-vintage. Little fellas, like the RAV4, find regular fuel satisfying, and sip rather than guzzle. The most important stretch, in terms of accommodation, was in the width, which is now tolerable.