When the RAV4 kicked off the modern crossover era in the U.S. with the 1996 RAV4, it’s likely nobody predicted that crossovers would make up the majority of vehicles sold in the U.S. 30 years later, or that the Detroit Three plus a few foreign automakers would nearly or fully abandon the traditional sedan body style in favor of them. For 2026, the ur-crossover enters its sixth generation as America’s most popular not-an-F-Series (though, under statistics heavily disputed by Ford, the RAV4 outsold just the F-150 in 2024 by over 15k units). Does the new RAV4 have what it takes to keep up the momentum?
