CROSSOVER SHOWDOWN
Another year, another Toyota versus Honda faceoff. Last year, Honda’s redesigned Accord midsized sedan took on the sportiest Camry ever and won. In fact, it wasn’t much of a contest. The Toyota was much improved over its predecessor, but the Honda was clearly the superior car.
A year later, Toyota is back with a new contender in a different category. Evolving consumer tastes mean compact crossovers are now more important than family sedans. In 2017, the Camry’s 15-year reign as America’s best-selling vehicle (that isn’t a pickup) was ended by Toyota’s own outgoing RAV4. Across the industry, you can see the same trend. Sedan sales are shrinking while crossovers are booming. Honda, too, sold more CR-Vs in 2017 than it sold Accords or Civics for the first time.
Considering how much was at stake, Toyota took a big risk when it redesigned its best-seller for 2019. It abandoned the anonymous but inoffensive styling of the previous RAV4 in favor of a chunkier, more rugged look. The soft-road-focused Adventure version even gets a Tacoma-inspired grille and 19-inch wheels.
The RAV4 is also now built on the midsize version of Toyota’s TNGA (Toyota New Global Architecture) platform, meaning that mechanically it relates more closely to the new Camry than the old Corolla. That means a longer wheelbase,
