Toyota USA Future Timeline, per Automotive News (2019 edition)

Joaquin Ruhi

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Every summer, U.S. trade publication Automotive News publishes product predictions for the next 5 years or so for all the major car brands sold here. Their Lexus predictions are the subject of a Lexus Lounge thread on our forums. Here are similar predictions for the Toyota brand:

August 05, 2019
Toyota turns to truck platform, hybrids
LARRY P. VELLEQUETTE

Toyota's next generation of pickups and SUVs will share a common platform, while the remainder of its car and crossover lineup will continue transitioning to the Toyota New Global Architecture, or TNGA. Meanwhile, the Japanese brand will put a fresh face on its low-volume Mirai hydrogen-powered sedan in time for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics and add a subcompact crossover to its lineup.

The new global body-on-frame platform, known internally as F1, will debut in 2021 on the full-size Tundra pickup before spreading across the rest of Toyota Motor Corp.'s pickups and SUVs.

Meanwhile, Toyota's ongoing cooperation with Mazda — already responsible for the Yaris and Yaris hatchback — will underpin production of a new subcompact crossover slated to open the two automakers' joint venture plant in Huntsville, Ala., in 2021.

Yaris: With its last freshening in 2018, the Yaris subcompact sedan, a reskinned Mazda2, is likely to soldier on in the lineup until 2022, when a decision is due on whether it remains. The hatchback version, revealed in April at the New York auto show, returns to dealer lineups with a redesign for the 2020 model year.

Corolla: Redesigned in 2019, the compact Corolla also will add a hybrid version to the lineup this year. The hybrid system combines a 1.8-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine with two motors through an electronically controlled planetary-type continuously variable transmission transaxle.

Camry: The midsize Camry transitioned to the TNGA platform in 2017 and will be due for a midcycle freshening in 2022.

Avalon: Toyota's largest sedan in the U.S. may get an all-wheel-drive variant in the future, to match the Lexus ES, but timing remains unknown. The Avalon was redesigned in 2018, so it isn't due for a freshening until 2022.

Prius/Prius Prime: Toyota's trailblazing hybrid and its plug-in variant received a mild freshening in 2019 to accompany the addition of an awd version due this year. Waning Prius sales are being noticed in Plano, Texas — Toyota's North America headquarters — as the car's early-adopting customer base experiments with broader electrification. Still, look for the Prius to undergo one more freshening/intervention, likely in 2023, given Toyota product cycles.

Mirai: The low-volume hydrogen fuel cell sedan, the unicorn of Toyota's lineup, will get a freshening for the brand to show off its engineering prowess at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

86: Toyota and Subaru are working on a next-generation 86/BRZ that will sport a new 2.4-liter boxer engine. It's expected in late 2021.

Supra: Reintroduced for the 2020 model year, the Supra won't be due for a cosmetic freshening until at least 2023, given Toyota's product cadence.

Subcompact crossover: The as-yet-unnamed subcompact crossover is to begin production in 2021 at the automaker's new plant with Mazda. Little information is known about the vehicle, which may be shown to dealers at a brand meeting in Las Vegas this September. It may end up replacing the C-HR, giving Toyota a fresh start in the hot segment, or it could be a supplemental entry.

C-HR: Originally planned for the doomed Scion brand when it debuted in 2017, the C-HR subcompact crossover would be due for a freshening in the second half of 2020. But limitations in the design could mean the new subcompact crossover planned with Mazda may replace it.

RAV4: Toyota announced this year that it would add RAV4 Hybrid production to its plant in Georgetown, Ky., along with the hybrid version of the Lexus ES 300. The redesigned RAV4 compact crossover debuted in 2018 and will get mild interventions until the first full freshening in 2022, under Toyota's traditional product cycle.

Highlander: Redesigned onto TNGA, the fourth-generation three-row large crossover is expected to begin arriving in showrooms in December as a 2020 model, with the hybrid version to follow in February. Toyota will offer two powertrains: the standard 295-hp, 3.5-liter V-6 gasoline engine or an optional hybrid powertrain that pairs a 2.5-liter inline four-cylinder engine with two electric motors to deliver 240 hp.

4Runner: The aging, Tacoma-based 4Runner has had to fill double duty in Toyota's lineup as a traditional two-row, truck-based midsize SUV while also carrying on the brand's off-road legacy since the FJ Cruiser departed. A redesign in 2023 onto the brand's body-on-frame F1 platform should allow designers and engineers to better bifurcate the 4Runner, with the off-road performance package getting extra goodies to accompany Toyota's latest safety and infotainment offerings.

Sequoia: Like the Tundra on which it's based, Toyota's full-size, three-row, body-on-frame SUV is long in the tooth and in need of an overhaul. It gets it in 2022, when it is to be redesigned onto the F1 platform. The platform will enable hybrid variants of vehicles to improve fuel efficiency offerings as well as the electrical architecture to support Toyota's latest safety and infotainment systems.

Land Cruiser: Given a slight freshening in 2019 for its 60th anniversary, the big three-row luxury SUV is expected to be redesigned onto Toyota's global body-on-frame platform in 2023 but could soldier on for one more product cycle with a freshening instead.

Toyota-Subaru battery-electric crossover: The two automakers are jointly developing a battery-electric platform to underpin crossovers and sedans that are midsize and larger. The timing of these recently announced crossovers for Toyota and Subaru is still unclear amid some reports that they could be ready in Japan in late 2021. However, an appearance in the U.S. in 2023 looks more likely.

Sienna: The third-generation Sienna minivan, which went into production in 2010, is at the end of its life cycle. So far, Toyota hasn't said much publicly about the replacement, due in the second half of 2020, other than that it would be redesigned onto the TNGA platform — enabling upgrades of its infotainment and safety systems — and that it would have a hybridized variant.

Tacoma: The segment-leading midsize pickup received a mild freshening in 2019 to extend the current generation until a major overhaul of Toyota's pickupofferings begins in two years. The Tacoma will be redesigned onto the brand's F1 platform, but not until 2023 to allow Toyota to wring every bit of profit from the hot-selling nameplate. The new platform is expected to address some of the Tacoma's weaknesses, such as seating position.

Tundra: The Tundra received a mild freshening in 2017 and is the oldest full-size pickup in the industry. That changes in 2021, when it is redesigned onto the brand's F1 platform. The platform should thrust the Tundra back into the pickup battle and allow it to retake some lost market share.

https://www.autonews.com/future-product/toyota-turns-truck-platform-hybrids