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In the words of Bill Fay, group vice president and general manager, Toyota Div., the RAV4 ���has been a signi���cant vehicle for Toyota since its inception in 1994 as the world���s ���rst crossover SUV. We introduced RAV4 to the U.S. market in 1995, and since then, we���ve sold more than 1.7 million, with 80 percent still on the road today.��� Since the introduction, there have been, Fay went on to note, about 45 crossover-SUVs available on the market today. ���As a matter of fact, with a few exceptions, like our 4Runner and FJ Cruiser, most compact or midsize SUVs today are crossovers.��� So that���s what the RAV4 started. The ���rst-generation RAV4 had its run from ���94 to 2000. The second from 2000 to ���05. The third from ���05 to ���12. And now there���s gen 4. t The 2013 RAV4 is signi���cantly more styled than the third-generation model that it replaces. Bill Fay, Toyota Div. group vice president and general manager, says of the new design, ���It���s a continuation of Akio Toyoda���s direction for more emotionally engaging products.��� Yoshikazu Saeki joined Toyota in 1987. His ���rst job was working on the Toyota Land Cruiser. That���s the serious Toyota SUV (even though it is re���ned enough to be the basis of the Lexus LX570). He joined the Product Planning Dept. in ���91, where he worked on both the Camry and the ���rst-generation Avalon. In ���97 Saeki moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to work at the Toyota Technical Center. There he worked on the Tacoma, Sienna and Avalon, U.S.-focused products. (���It was like getting a graduate degree in American car buyers, learning what mean most to them, especially safety and QDR.���) He moved to the RAV4 engineering team in 2003, when the third-generation model was in planning. And now he is the deputy chief engineer for the fourth-generation RAV4. He worked on the project in Japan. But that is only part of the story. Because he spent a lot of time in the U.S. during the RAV4 4. He pursued the now-common genchi genbutsu, go-see, approach characteristic of the engineering development of Toyota vehicles. Which meant that Saeki visited people from New York to LA, from Miami to San Francisco. Some 250 people, in all. He wanted to know what they wanted. ���One thing they talked about was more emotion from RAV4���s styling, so we created a design that was aggressive looking and immediately recognizable as new and contemporary,��� he said. ���Another important factor was a spacious interior. While they didn���t need a larger vehicle overall, they wanted an interior that ���t both their active needs, and desire for a relaxed, comfortable drive.��� p Yoshikazu Saeki is the deputy chief engineer of the 2013 RAV4. He���s been with Toyota since 1987, and other vehicles he���s worked on include the Toyota Land Cruiser, the Lexus ES300, and the Toyota Camry. Not only did he spend time living in Michigan at one point, during the RAV4 development he came to the U.S. from Japan and spent a signi���cant amount of time talking to RAV4 customers about what they were looking for in a new model. The terms used to characterize the 2013 include strength, agility, and dynamism. The SUV is to provide emotional appeal, have striking character, and feature a re���ned and unforgettable design. Which pretty much is what can be said about the design of any new vehicle nowadays. But one departure is that the rearmounted spare tire is no longer ���xtured to the side-swinging tailgate (realize how unwieldy it would be if the covered spare had to be lifted were that door top-hinged). The spare tire is now located under the cargo area and the liftgate is top hinged. 15