A brief history of a Revo(lution)

It’s officially called the Toyota Tamaraw FX Revo. And as far as sequels go, fortunately this one isn’t unlike any of those never ending Die Hard or Nightmare on Elm Street iterations, which get worse with each next installment. The Revo is as smashing a blockbuster success as any of its predecessors were.

In 1998, the first year the Revo was introduced, its FX sibling was lording it over the AUV market. Then exhibiting signs of burgeoning growth, this segment had a healthy economy to thank, resulting in equally robust vehicle sales figures. Toyota’s timing was impeccable, coming up with a product that was infinitely more comfortable and attractive. No surprise then that buyers snapped it up.

Okay, with 3,118 units, it was not exactly flying off showroom floors.

Toyota initially offered only three variants that year: the GLX, the top-model DLX, and the entry level GL which, with virtually no power gizmo and absolutely zero pogi points-scoring accessories to speak of, was not that far removed from the cruder FX. (By the way, the FX is still sold alongside the Revo to this day.)

The following year though, Revo sales more than tripled with a total of 11,314 units sold. Considering that car sales were leveling off and in fact, starting its downslide, that was a tough act. It was also at that point that Toyota introduced the Sport Runner variant, a model that auspiciously paved the way for the "luxury" AUVs.

In 2000, Toyota upped the ante further by coming up with the LXV Revo model, which again signaled the direction where AUV positioning was headed – and that was upmarket. It was the Revo’s best sales year, with 11,818 units rolling off showroom floors. Another important point here is that while passenger car figures were declining, AUV sales, by contrast, were increasing.

The following year, the already luxurious LXV top-model variant was made even more upscale. In a period when the entire automotive industry was reeling from a nightmare economy and political situation, the LXV undoubtedly contributed its fair share to total Revo sales in 2001, which totaled 10,115 units.

Early this year, Toyota introduced the VX200, a variant that sat at the top of the AUV genre. Sold alongside its lesser siblings, the VX200, combined with all the other Revos, gave Toyota the bragging rights of 9,883 units sold by last month. Though about 2000 units short of the 1999 figures, the last days of the VX200’s existence broke sales records with about 1,300 units sold in a single month.

And there can be no better manner to introduce the new Revo model lineup than in that way.