Photo: Twitter screenshot
The current Toyota Avalon, the 2018 model year, is not the kind of car you buy out of impulse. You don't just see it once and instantly fall in love with it.
You've probably owned other Toyotas before and are now in need of the largest sedan available on the U.S. market wearing the Japanese company's badge, or you simply like to play it safe and get a reliable, ubiquitous car that you won't have any problems selling when the time comes.
In other words, it's precisely what cars need to be: tools we use to serve our purposes that we replace when they no longer meet our requirements. Now that we've written this not very flattering introduction, it's about time we got to the "it's all going to change with the new generation" part.
Except it probably won't. Yes, the 2019 Avalon looks like it values styling more than what we've been used with so far from Toyota, and yes, there is a design revolution currently going on at the carmaker, but there are some models where the company can't risk alienating its clients. And going too crazy would do just that.
We expect it would settle for something in the middle - not so boring, but not exactly rocking the boat either - which should keep the existing customer base and attract a few new ones as well. The spy shots we've had so far seem to confirm this idea, as does the first teaser released last month which showed the headlight unit of the new model had a pretty Lexusy feel to it.
Now, Toyota has released a video teaser for the Avalon's taillights, and even though the shape still shows some influences from the company's luxury brand, the way it functions shows somebody has been watching the German competition as well.
The main talking point of the five-second clip is the sequential indicator. Instead of just blinking, the lights will go out gradually from the inside of the car toward the outside, as if blinking on one side or another wasn't enough to suggest which way the driver wants to go. Well, if the clip came two weeks earlier, we could have at least put it on repeat and use it instead of the Christmas lights.
In other words, it's precisely what cars need to be: tools we use to serve our purposes that we replace when they no longer meet our requirements. Now that we've written this not very flattering introduction, it's about time we got to the "it's all going to change with the new generation" part.
Except it probably won't. Yes, the 2019 Avalon looks like it values styling more than what we've been used with so far from Toyota, and yes, there is a design revolution currently going on at the carmaker, but there are some models where the company can't risk alienating its clients. And going too crazy would do just that.
We expect it would settle for something in the middle - not so boring, but not exactly rocking the boat either - which should keep the existing customer base and attract a few new ones as well. The spy shots we've had so far seem to confirm this idea, as does the first teaser released last month which showed the headlight unit of the new model had a pretty Lexusy feel to it.
Now, Toyota has released a video teaser for the Avalon's taillights, and even though the shape still shows some influences from the company's luxury brand, the way it functions shows somebody has been watching the German competition as well.
The main talking point of the five-second clip is the sequential indicator. Instead of just blinking, the lights will go out gradually from the inside of the car toward the outside, as if blinking on one side or another wasn't enough to suggest which way the driver wants to go. Well, if the clip came two weeks earlier, we could have at least put it on repeat and use it instead of the Christmas lights.
New Year, new attitude. First look at the all-new #Avalon coming soon from 2018 @NAIASDetroit. https://t.co/Ge5MCCZJ23 #NAIAS pic.twitter.com/Xv8hXlcXcG
— Toyota USA (@Toyota) January 4, 2018
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