Call it a cute-ute or a small crossover, the Rav4 (rav four) from Toyota remains one the the most popular SUVs on the road today. Originally introduced in the United States in 1996, the ”Recreational Active Vehicle with 4 wheel drive” has undergone three complete makeovers and a couple of mid-cycle refreshes and facelifts to get where it is today. Now, the sport utility that always seems to be reinventing itself might be in for its biggest change yet.

During a recent environmentally friendly vehicle conference in Shanghai, Toyota’s managing officer of hybrid system development (Koei Saga) was quoted as saying that a hybrid Rav4 would be offered in China “as soon as possible”. Saga didn’t provide any additional information on the subject, but with the U.S. being the largest hybrid market, it seems like a safe bet that the Toyota Rav4 hybrid will be available in North America as well.

You might recall that Toyota Motor Company plans to hybridize all of their vehicles by 2020. With the Prius enjoying solid control of the mid-size hybrid car market, the hybrid Camry owning the full-size category, and the hybrid Highlander doing well among mid-size SUVs, coloring the Rav4 green seems like a savvy next move. The current small hybrid SUV leader is the Ford Escape, so it might be the closest competitor for Toyota should they decide to bring a Rav 4 hybrid to the states. At the same time, rumors of Honda building a hybrid CRV surface now and then, and it wouldn’t surprise me to hear them again in the next few months.

With Toyota now having more that a decade of hybrid knowledge under their belts, it seems they are in a unique position to start cranking out new hybrid models every 12 to 18 months. Assuming China gets a 2010 hybrid Rav4, I think the U.S. could pencil in a hybrid Rav4 model in 2011 or 2012. If so, what might it cost and what might we expect for mileage? The 2009 gas-only Rav4 is available with a 4 cylinder or V6 engine. It has a starting price of around $21,500 and fuel economy ratings of 22 city and 28 highway. If this model was built with Toyota’s patented hybrid synergy drive, I would estimate the price to be around $30,000 and combined fuel efficiency in the 32 to 35 mpg ballpark.

Whatever happens, we’ll cover the updates here…so if you’re a raving Rav4 fan, check back soon!