You guys may have seen, on some newsfeeds, that Toyota plans to cancel the Avalon for the 2023 model year in the USA. But they will continue the model in Japan.

Makes one wonder if Lexus will also cancel the ES sometime in the future.

 

I saw that and was thinking the same thing but ES sales volume still supports the continuation. I think they sell around 40k or 50k annually? Avalon sales nowhere near that..

 

I'm surprised that the Avalon wasn't canceled a few years ago. It was thought that Avalon siphoned off sales of the ES at less money. With the advent of the ES250 the Avalon had to go... I don't think that the Executive Sedan is going anywhere anytime soon due to it's sales numbers...

 

Especially now that the GS is no longer being built, the ES is the remaining larger sedan at the lower end of the Lexus price range. And the ES is, by a good margin Lexus' best selling sedan. I can't imagine Lexus abandoning that segment of the market. With Toyota, they still have the Camry in their line-up, and I would think that many who otherwise would have considered buying an Avalon will, at least, consider buying a Camry.

While, to the dismay of many, both Toyota and Lexus have, with current generation models, made their cars with bigger and bigger (and uglier) grilles. To me, the previous generation Avalon was a pretty sharp looking car, but the current generation, especially the front end, is, to me, absolutely ugly. I have wondered about whether Toyota could have sold more Avalons if the car wasn't so ugly.

Also, note that there is a longer thread about the demise of the Avalon on the Car Chat board here at CL.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/car...odel-year.html

 

There's literally no reason to buy an Avalon when you have an ES within spitting distance. People at the Toyota dealer don't want to spend near 40k for an Avalon. People at Toyota dealers are shopping for Camrys, Corollas, or Rav4s.

I don't think there's reason to cancel the ES. They got rid of the GS for the ES and the BMW 5 Series, E Class, Audi A6 etc still exist so Lexus definitely needs something in that category. I was googling today and the ES is the #1 selling luxury hybrid.

 

The TNGA Avalon is leaps and bounds superior in every way fathomable than the prior gen Avalon which was a crusty POS at best. Nothing prior from Toyota comes close to TNGA as it shouldn't.

 

I don't question for a moment whether the current Avalon and the TNGA platform are significantly better than the previous generation Avalon, but none of that precludes the current generation and, especially, the grille, from being quite ugly.

 

No way the ES will be cancelled. It is by far the #1 selling luxury sedan. It is the 39th most popular selling vehicle including trucks, sedans and SUV.

 

I actually LOVE the grill of the new Avalon. I feel it's glorious and premium and signifies Toyota's newest corporate signature and brand ethos--which by definitionthe grill of a car does. The old Avalon overall looks like a smushed POS. There's nothing worse in car land than being yesterday's news and yesterday's technology especially if today's technology is better. guilt by association i guess.

 

Anything is possible. Lexus fans said the GS couldn't die. Chevy fans said the Impala would never die, too. And it's the RX that keeps the lights on at Lexus these days.

That said, the ES has been outselling the Avalon while commanding a much higher transaction price. Since it's not expensive to produce with its shared component set, it's probably safe for the moment. But longer term, Lexus admitted that the 6th gen buyer had an average age of 67. I haven't heard numbers on whether the more daring 7th gen has turned that around. But if it hasn't, the model is in trouble.

 

I believe the new Avalon is a clearly superior car to the last one, but I think this is a bit of revisionist history. A lot of people said a lot of nice things about the last Avalon when it was out, and as an aside, I also thought it looked 900% better on the outside than the current one.

 

Yeah but the billion dollar TNGA is a global powerhouse which performs at the top of its class and underpins pretty much the entire current Toyota and Lexus lineup. The last generation body-in-white designs were a sloppy mish mash of meh to poor performing designs and not really globalized/standardized. The new platform is a massive leap forward which automatically makes every Toyota/Lexus platform before it obsolete.

 

I rarely disagree with you Les regarding the Lexus grill and certainly respect your strong opinion. I did enjoy my 2013 horizontal grill and looked with great chagrin on the changed vertical spline grill when it appeared. However I have to say that on my 2019 I have grown to like the new style grill and, according to Lexus officials, it's here to stay. I guess that's why they make chocolate and vanilla.

 

I agree. I am not a fan of Toyota/Lexus' move to larger grills. I too was concerned about moving from the smaller 2015 grill to the 2019 grill, but with time I have grown to quite like it. However, that new Avalon grill was just too much. It is a nice looking car otherwise, but that grill is just over the top. Reminds me of a whale scooping up shrimp and krill.

 

I love it. It says

"I'm bold."

"I'm superior"

I just love what it communicates. Surely, Toyota's boardroom that signs off on the final designs agree.