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C O V E R S T O R Y |
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Ulysses Ang Photos By Ulysses Ang & Jason Ang |
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There
is bound to be competition in this world of ours.
Just take a look around; when someone finds an avenue to earn a
quick buck, it doesn’t take an Einstein to find out that exploiting
the same idea would lead to a quicker buck, but also to a diverse range
of choices, which ultimately leads to a happy consumer. Take
some everyday examples: Starbucks Coffee and Seattle’s Best Coffee;
Sony Playstation and Sega Dreamcast; Britney Spears and Christina
Aguilera.
As much as their founders would say that these are works of
original vision and fuzzy-hearted boo-hoo stories, it all boils down to
our world being a consumer market and these items really, I mean REALLY,
sell. Now,
the same is true with the automotive market.
Although there are some cars that are designed because of pure
vision (e.g. McLaren F1 and the Lamborghini Miura), most are actually
the product of countless consumer research and study.
Of course, the result of these studies point to the kinds of cars
we get today, and one such example is the mini-SUVs. The mini-SUV market was started by Toyota in the early 1990s with their first generation RAV4. Of course, this niche vehicle wasn’t born out of a great automobile mastermind’s relentless pursuit for passion, but rather a result of market studies and probably a few dozen leftover parts from an economy sedan. Whatever the reason, the battlefield drew large players. Even the Americans, British and Koreans joined into the fray. In the end, it was clear that the Toyota RAV4 and the Honda CRV dominated the market. Both
of these vehicles are mechanically precise, but lack any sort of
emotional attachment.
It would be impossible to talk about how these vehicles have
progressed through decades of careful badge development and image, since
they appeared, as they are, image and all, in a span of time that equals
the formation of a boy band. Coming
into the picture a full two-years earlier than its Honda counterpart,
the Toyota RAV4 was a trek into unknown ground for Toyota.
Known for their legendary Land Cruiser, they new they couldn’t
use the same philosophy for this baby SUV (mechanically indestructible
but expensive).
Thus, philosophizing that a consumer would use these vehicles 99
percent of the time for city roads; the engine characteristics, the
suspension and even the looks had been designed to blend well with city
surroundings.
Instead of looking like Farmer John’s favorite 54-bhp tractor,
the RAV4 proved to be a great alternative to the dismally boring Toyota
Corona.
Never was Stockbroker Joey so happy before.
But, good as it was, the RAV4 lacked some degree of versatility
especially with its cramped seats and rather poor storage space. |
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