The auto industry is increasingly global–the most popular crossover SUV in the U.S. is no exception
The automobile industry is truly global. Experts have called the Honda Ridgeline the most “American made” pickup truck because it hails from Lincoln, Alabama. Meanwhile, all the Detroit Three have a ton of manufacturing in Mexico, some are even building cars for North America in China. So it isn’t especially surprising that the most popular North American crossover–the Toyota RAV4–is engineered in Japan and assembled in Canada.
First and foremost, the Toyota RAV4 is wildly popular in the U.S. Toyota sold 475,193 units here in 2024. That’s up from 434,943 in 2023. The only “models” to beat the RAV4 were Ford’s F-Series and Chevrolet’s Silverado. And both of those are more of a full-size truck “family” than a single model. The Honda CR-V is the RAV4’s closest competitor. Honda sold 402,791 of that crossover in 2024. No other model on the market broke the 400k barrier. Here’s how the top ten stacked up:
| Make / Model | 2024 U.S. Sales |
|---|---|
| Ford F-Series | 834,641 |
| Chevrolet Silverado | 560,265 |
| Toyota RAV4 | 475,193 |
| Honda CR-V | 402,791 |
| Ram Pickup | 373,118 |
| Tesla Model Y | 313,699 |
| Toyota Camry | 309,875 |
| GMC Sierra | 298,698 |
| Nissan Rogue | 245,723 |
| Honda Civic | 242,005 |
The Toyota RAV4 crossover SUV hails from Canada
Since 2008, Toyota has assembled its RAV4 crossover at its plant in Woodstock, Ontario. Today, Toyota Canada builds the RAV4, Lexus NX, and Lexus RX–in its two Ontario plants. Ontario has long been a major manufacturing hub. It is right across the river from Detroit, so all of the Detroit Three have had plants in Ontario for decades. Ontario workers are responsible for building some Chevy Silverados, all the Doge Chargers and Challengers, and the vast majority of Ford’s V8 engines.
So where is the RAV4 engineered? It is a truly global product, assembled in Japan, China, and Russia. Its even rebadged as a Suzuki for the European market and a “Toyota Wildlander” for the Chinese market. The chief engineer of this RAV4 was Yoshikazu Saeki who appears to be based in Japan. But he’s said his three years in Michigan, on Toyota Camry engineering team, showed him how important winter driving capability is to North American buyers.
Would you prefer a RAV4 built in the U.S? There is one configuration assembled at Toyota’s Georgetown, Kentucky plant. That’s the RAV4 hybrid. That facility employs 1,266 locals and has donated over $154 million to the local community. So if you opt for the RAV4 hybrid, you’re helping out the environment and the U.S. workforce at the same time.
See Toyota’s plant in Georgetown for yourself in the video below:
