Toyota Turns to Tow Hooks, Fog Lamps to Signal a Sportier RAV4

(Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp. has loaded up a concept sport utility vehicle with features aimed at enticing more outdoorsy drivers with a model better known as the family grocery-getter.

Called FT-AC -- as in Future Toyota Adventure Concept -- the SUV hints at the direction Toyota may be headed with its best-selling RAV4. Its unveiling at this week's Los Angeles Auto Show comes on the heels of Toyota introducing an Adventure version of the crossover in September.

While a handful of styling cues makes the Adventure-grade RAV4 look a little less out of place driving around in the dirt, the FT-AC would be a more credible off-roader. It features front tow hooks and fog lights bristling from its grille, as well as beefier tires and chrome skid plates for traversing through rocks and ruts.

The indication that Toyota may take its RAV4 in a more rugged direction is consistent with how it's revamped models like its leading sedan, the Camry. After flourishing for decades by championing simplicity and reliability, the Japanese automaker is responding to the demands of consumers who want more performance and innovation out of models they can still depend on, said Alexander Edwards, the president of Strategic Vision Inc., a San Diego-based market research firm.

“Toyota wants to take its styling up a notch on the main models,” Edwards said. “If they offer higher trim levels that have even more extreme or advanced styling, it can really help take the brand to the next level. This is clearly the right move.”

SUV Onslaught

Toyota has delivered almost 350,000 RAV4s so far this year through October, trailing only Detroit's leading pickups among the top-selling vehicles in the U.S. Keeping the SUV crown will only get tougher: Automakers have introduced one new SUV after another this week in Los Angeles, from Fiat Chrysler Automobile NV's Jeep Wrangler to Hyundai Motor Co.'s compact Kona.

“You can't be too aggressive with your overall redesign because you have to avoid alienating the mainstream buyer,” Alan Baum, an independent auto analyst, said of the thin line Toyota is walking with the RAV4. “On the other hand, with two or three trim levels that are a little more sporty, you kick up the desirability of the vehicle.”

To defend the RAV4's position, Baum said he expects Toyota will start building a redesigned version within the next year or so using a more flexible production system that's being applied to almost every new model.

Read more: Businessweek on Toyota's manufacturing makeover

Testing Waters

Toyota declined to discuss its plans for revamping the RAV4 and described the FT-AC concept as a design experiment. “As with any design study, the purpose of the concept is to test the waters for future design direction,” spokesman Mike Kroll said in an email.

Toyota needs to make the RAV4 bigger in part to differentiate it from the compact C-HR introduced last year, Baum said. In a statement, the company said the FT-AC featured a long wheelbase and wide track, without giving specific dimensions.

The automaker also said a next-generation hybrid powertrain could fit nicely inside an all-terrain vehicle like the FT-AC. Toyota started equipping the RAV4 with gasoline-electric engines in 2015. Sales have surged since, though to some extent that growth is coming at the expense of the Prius, the long-time hybrid leader.

RAV4 hybrid sales have climbed 13 percent this year to 41,364, nipping at the heels of the Prius sedan, which has seen deliveries plunge 34 percent to 55,443.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Lippert in Chicago at jlippert@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Craig Trudell at ctrudell1@bloomberg.net, Anne Riley Moffat

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