Last year, the formidable Toyota Land Cruiser celebrated a major milestone, as the ten millionth example rolled off the production line. Yet its compact RAV4 sibling has just reached ten million sales in a fraction of the time. It took Toyota 68 years to sell ten million Land Cruisers, and the RAV4 has achieved the same milestone in only 26 years since it was introduced in 1994. The Toyota RAV4 officially passed the major sales mark in February 2020, and continues to be a strong seller for Toyota.

Unsurprisingly, North America, which has an unrelenting appetite for crossovers, is the RAV4's strongest market, with more than half a million annual sales. In Europe, Toyota sold 133,000 RAV4s in China, while 127,000 were sold in China.

The Toyota RAV4 made its debut at the Geneva Motor Show back in March 1994 and started a new compact SUV segment, but it didn't arrive in North America until January 1996. Since then, the RAV4 has been a massive success, becoming the world's best-selling SUV in 2018 and 2019. In 2019, the RAV4 was also the fourth best-selling passenger car overall.

For the 2019 model year, Toyota introduced the all-new fifth-generation RAV4 at the 2018 New York Auto Show with more rugged styling, upgraded tech, and a new hybrid powertrain.

Starting at $25,950, the 2020 Toyota RAV4 is offered with a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine developing 203 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission, while the hybrid version packs 219 hp and 163 lb-ft of torque.

With the first-ever plug-in hybrid RAV4 Prime also launching this year, we have no the RAV4's sales will continue to thrive, although the coronavirus pandemic will likely affect Toyota's sales growth in 2020. COVID-19 may also delay the launch of the RAV4 Prime planned for this summer, but Toyota hasn't made any announcements yet. With the popularity of crossovers showing no sign of slowing down, it probably won't be long until Toyota celebrates another major sales milestone for the RAV4.