Early last month, Toyota not only introduced the world to the all-new, TNGA-F-based 2024 Land Cruiser off-road SUV (Prado or 250 in some markets) but also announced its triumphant return to the US market.
Instead, North America also got the good news of Toyota starting production of the 2024 Grand Highlander three-row, eight-seat family-oriented crossover SUV in Princeton, Indiana (TMMI – Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana). And, first announced in February, it only took the Japanese automaker half a year to start the highly anticipated 2024 Grand Highlander production. In contrast, other popular nameplates (S650 Mustang, wink wink) take much longer before hitting that milestone.
Yours from a little over $43k, the larger Grand Highlander is not just an elongated Highlander but also comes with distinctive styling and better powertrains than its mid-size counterpart. The smaller Highlander once rocked a 3.5-liter V6, but that is not the case anymore, so the Grand Highlander towers above with the 2.4-liter turbo inline-four and two (classic) hybrid powertrains.
At the top of the food chain, the Grand Highlander Hybrid goes for $44,670 with 243 horsepower, but the Max model also comes out to play (from over $54k) with the Hybrid Max version of the electrified powertrain and 362 happy ponies plus 339 lb-ft (460 Nm) of torque. But what if that is not enough, particularly when considering that its 2024 Lexus TX sibling is also built at TMMI?
The latter will arrive a bit later on the market with slightly better powertrain options and ritzier appointments – 275 hp for the 2.4-liter turbo, 366 hp for the regular hybrid, and a flagship plug-in hybrid option rocking 406 horsepower. As such, is anyone surprised that some folks wonder if the Grand Highlander would deserve the same treatment, perhaps as soon as the model year 2025?
Well, if no one does that in the real world, the imaginative realm of digital car content creators is eager to answer these unrequested questions, for sure. For example, the good folks over at the AutoYa info channel on YouTube have imagined the CGI looks of the unreleased and unannounced GR-version Grand Highlander. Dubbed the 2025 Toyota Grand Highlander GR or GR Sport, this really is something to ruminate on.
First, the host thinks it would be a great candidate to make it Toyota's most potent family-oriented, eight-seat crossover SUV. Secondly, the looks of the hypothetical GR Grand Highlander are nothing to sneeze at because the resident pixel master worked hard to give it a sporty appearance via the OEM-style body kit and also keep it elegant with lots of ritzy CGI color options.
Thirdly, there's also an available powertrain to motivate the potential GR Grand Highlander of Grand Highlander GR Sport – 2024 Lexus TX's 550h+ PHEV option, the one with a 3.5-liter V6 engine and electric assistance, that is. Cool, right?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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