The Toyota Wildlander, which is basically a rebadged version of the RAV4 will be launched in China later this year
Toyota has a joint venture with two Chinese automotive giants, one is with Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. (GAC Group) and the other one is with First Automobile Works (FAW Group). This allows Toyota to sell the same product under two names with minor changes. Now, GAC Toyota will soon be introducing the Wildlander, which is basically a rebadged version of the Toyota RAV4 already sold by FAW Toyota in China.
The overall changes remain subtle and one can tell that it’s a RAV4 under the skin of the Wildlander. However, the latter is a little longer than the car it is based on, but apart from that, other dimensions remain the same. Take a look at all the dimensions –
| Toyota Wildlander | Toyota RAV4 | |
| Length | 4665 mm | 4600 mm |
| Width | 1855 mm | 1855 mm |
| Height | 1680 mm | 1680 mm |
| Wheelbase | 2690 mm | 2690 mm |
On the outside, the Wildlander gets sleeker headlamp units along with a redesigned bumper up front, compared to the RAV4. The rear bumper gets black treatment, along with slimmer and elongated LED tail lamps.
Toyota will offer the Wildlander with two different powertrains, same as the RAV4; a 2.0-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine which makes 171 HP of power, and a 2.5-litre hybrid engine paired with an electric motor, which churns out 222 HP of max power. In usual Toyota fashion, the hybrid version will wear blue accents here and there, the most notable one being on the Toyota emblems outside of the car.
This is not the first time Toyota is spawning off the same product under two different monikers. Some previous rebadging instances include the Toyota Corolla, which is sold by FAW Toyota in China. GAC Toyota sells the same car under the “Levin” moniker. In another instance, the GAC Toyota sells the C-HR crossover, whereas the FAW Toyota has its own version of that called the Izoa.
The RAV4 is sold internationally and continues to be one of the best-selling compact crossover SUVs in the US. Since Toyota already has the RAV4 in the international markets, we do not expect to see the Wildlander make it outside of China. The RAV4 has a starting price of 197,800 Yuan (Rs 19,90,786) and goes up to 259,800 Yuan (Rs 26,13,866), and the Wildlander will likely be priced similarly.