Throughout the last decade or so, the automotive industry has seen a shift away from small cars and sedans into the more practical world of SUVs and crossovers. It's understandable why consumers are shifting towards these middle-of-the-road platforms as they tend to offer the best of both worlds in an affordable vehicle - comfortable family hauling with a slightly raised ride height.
As a result, manufacturers are seeing their SUV and crossover sales begin to eclipse those of other vehicle types, especially when it comes to sedans. Arguably, no better example of this exists in the contemporary market today than within Toyota's fleet, where the RAV4 has silently usurped the Camry as the top dog on their showroom floors. While the recent crossover/SUV trend has certainly helped to facilitate this change in the brand's ecosystem, there are many other aspects of the RAV4's design, production, and cost which have helped it shoulder the quintessential sedan out of the top spot.
All specs and pricing have been sourced from Toyota's official website and press materials, and all sales figures as provided by the manufacturer. Reputable sources have been used to augment these.
Has The Camry Fallen From Grace?
Whether the Camry has fallen from grace or not is a bit of a loaded question, because while the older models certainly leave a lot to be desired,t he 2025 Camry has rocked the boat substantially with not just a step up - but a giant leap.
First, let's look at the Camry's history of dominance, both within the Toyota brand and in the general entry-level sedan marketplace. Prior generations of the Camry have been called everything from affordable to unkillable, and nearly all that lies between the two (with fast and flashy being two notable exceptions). But looking at the 2025 Toyota Camry only muddies the waters further; it's not a hybrid-only sedan with accouterments that put it on par (or more) with its Lexus cousins, cutting edge technology - all for a very reasonable $28,400 starting price.
Affordability doesn't stop at purchase, with the vehicle offering up to 51 mpg combined, depending on trim. And, although it's untested, we can't see the 2025 model being any less reliable, dependable - nigh bulletproof - as any of its predecessors. To put it plainly, the Camry is even more excellent in 2025 than it has been before - so any dip in its sales numbers isn't likely to be as a result of any shortcoming.
Toyota Sales Figures Tell The Story
What the Camry stands for hasn't changed, but consumer preferences have, and the numbers don't lie. In 2013, the Camry sold 408,484 vehicles in the United States, and even this impressive figure is only good for seventh best since 2005. Yet skip ahead to 2023, and these numbers have shrunk by over 25% to just over 290 000 for the year. While 2024 seems set to be an up year for the platform based on reported numbers thus far, the Camry still seems set to fall significantly short of the 400 000 mark it once effortlessly attained.
Meanwhile, in that same time period, the RAV4 has jumped from 218,249 vehicles sold in 2013 to a nearly doubled 434,943 sold last year. The RAV4 also has a sizable lead of over 100 000 sales on the Camry for the 2024 year thus far, having sold more than 283k vehicles in just six months, opposed to the Camry's 179k sales.
However, to accredit this shift solely to consumer preferences would be to kneecap the RAV4 and how well it has capitalized on this trend itself. In the last decade, the RAV4 has evolved significantly, further honing itself into a legitimate disruptor to the status quo. Money talks, and it's clear that it speaks out in support for Toyota's best-selling SUV of 2023.
Toyota Will Give Consumers The RAV4 They Want
One of Toyota's best moves in the last while has been to not rest on its laurels, and to take to heart what customers want. As Toyota's head of product planning said about the RAV4's redesign goal:
We do not want to mess up that formula, so how do you then improve upon it? Modernizing it, meeting regulations for emissions, keeping an eye on our competitors, and make sure we're making the right product improvements. But this is not a dramatic change.
- Cooper Ericksen, Head of Product PLanning, Toyota North America
It's clear that Toyota won't mess with the formula that has turned the RAV4 into the company's American cash cow. Without a doubt, it's clear that Toyota is more than willing to listen to consumers on what they want in the RAV4, and plans on going out of their way to ensure they deliver - and their aim is half a million sales in 2024. So what makes the RAV4 so good?
The RAV4 Reason
There are several reasons why the RAV4 is such a great option. The major selling points of the RAV4 can be summarized as follows:
Three powertrain options - gas-only, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid
Starting MSRPs of $28,675 (gas), $31,725 (hybrid), and $43,690 (PHEV)
Attractive, modern design with raised ride height for rougher terrain
Comparable passenger space but more than double the cargo volume
Long list of standard features with various trims to choose from
Much of the RAV4's popularity stems from what it offers that other comparable SUVs and crossovers don't, with the above quotes from Ericksen serving as a microcosm of this. Whereas other manufacturers may try to tell consumers what they want and sell it to them, Toyota seems more than happy to sit back and take orders based on how consumers spend their cash. The RAV4 also does away with many of the unnecessary bells and whistles other SUVs and crossovers structure themselves around. Sure, it may not be as flashy or fast as some of its slightly pricier alternatives like the newer Mazda CX-50, but buying a Toyota for these reasons is like adopting a cat to play fetch with; your expectations for the product are simply misaligned with what it is meant to deliver.
The Camry is Excellent - For Its Purpose
Despite the RAV4 being more popular at this point in time, the Camry remains important to the automotive landscape and excellent in its own right. As sedans are becoming scarcer, an excellent high-value product such as this, which punches well above its weight, will do a lot to keep the four-door alive. We don't expect it to go anywhere any time soon, as it's still integral to Toyota's brand.
The Camry nameplate is synonymous with the brand, evoking a sense of dependability and longevity. The company is smart to invest in making its sedan which used to be just a runabout your grandfather settled for, a modern vehicle that young executives will be happy with. And even while we're considering these lower sales figures as "worse", in the grand scheme of things, that's still impressive. The Camry's core rival, the Honda Accord, has only sold 94,725 units for 2024.
As it always has, the Camry is the Toyota product that convinces people to become Toyota lifers, whether their first experience with the platform is as they come out of college and need something cheap and reliable for a commute, or if they're in the twilight of life and need something to take them into town and back three days a week, 52 weeks a year.
Which Is Right For You?
It may be true that the Toyota RAV4 has taken over the mantle of most popular Toyota in the USA, but that doesn't detract from the Camry's inherent value. The difference in their roles remains pertinent, which also means that each will appeal to different audiences - and both of those audiences remain vital to the success of Toyota as a brand.
Both cars are truly can't-go-wrong vehicles, and a choice between them essentially boils down to preference in vehicle type, budgetary constraints, and what consumers need out of their nigh-invincible daily driver. To put it more plainly, the Camry is the car for young singles or couples with no children looking to spend as little as possible on a reliable vehicle and whose major road trips will consist of themselves and one to two others in the car. For larger families with children and pets who regularly spend time away from home, the RAV4 has everything they'll ever need to make these events just a little bit less stressful. In either case, if these two products represent the Toyota brand, it's not a bad look at all.
Sources: GoodCarBadCar.net , FuelEconomy.gov .
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