yeah. Sequoia sales will decrease I agree. A terrible overall package IMO

 

Could fit a giant battery in that grille alone. This should sell fairly well depending on price.

 

Unless you need to tow, I have no idea why you would buy a Sequoia over this.

I also don’t see the purpose of having this and the regular Highlander in the lineup. It would make sense to me if the next generation Highlander were to shrink down some, kind of like it used to be.

 

I feel like they messed up with Venza. Venza should've slotted in as the midsize 2-row a la Murano/Blazer/Passport/Edge etc. And then let Highlander be this. Instead Venza is slightly smaller inside than the RAV while essentially the same underpinnings.

 

Hood prop rod is a little chintzy…

 

The guy I was skiing with yesterday has a Venza, it’s surprisingly nice. Interior is very nice, nice materials. Rides great (I rode in it, didn’t drive it), quiet. He has two kids, 10 and 8 and the 4 of them travel in it instead of their Odyssey.

I think they seem to have some confusion about their lineup. I think the Venza and regular Highlander should become one vehicle, then you would have RAV4, Venza, Grand Highlander. Essentially what you said. Having two three rows doesn’t make sense to me…

 

Agreed.

Shrinking the two-row Highlander would probably put it too close to the current RAV-4.....and shrinking the RAV-4 in return, would, of course, put it too close to the Corolla Cross. Eventually, there has to be a point where some automakers simply admit they have too many crossovers...which Buick has essentially done in the American market by dropping the Encore, and Ford did by dropping the EcoSport.

And, with the TrailBlazer, Equinox, Blazer, Traverse, Tahoe, Suburban and leftover-samples of the Trax, Chevy may also be in that same situation.

 

Purpose is to maximize their sales? Why would you want less options as a customer?

 

This is going to sell like crazy - well done Toyota!

 

Wow looks fabulous

 

This looks great! I’d love one!

 

Agreed, If you remember when I did my 2Gen Venza MM-Review, I was also quite impressed with it, and said then that it could easily have been marketed as a Lexus....better than some of what Lexus itself was marketing at the time. In fact, Lexus (wisely, this time) used the new Venza as the platform for their own badly-needed NX-improvements.

 

‘The Venza is a nice crossover. Really nice size. Toyota has it right by offering the 2 row version as not everyone wants or needs a 3 row

 

It's about what I expected, including the powertrain from the RX500h. The interior doesn't appear to be significantly different from the current Highlander and the exterior strangely has more design cues from the RAV4 on the front fascia than the Highlander.

It will all come down to price. I would have a very hard time justifying this at $65K if that's what the top trims end up being. The CX-90's third row is a joke compared to this, but it has much more premium bones worthy of that $60K pricetag. I guess the real loser here is the Acura MDX lol.

 

If this ends up being $65-70K like some are predicting, it won't be a Palisade/Telluride competitor, it'll be going up against the new Hyundai/Kia three-row EV's.