We ask Toyota chief engineer about reasoning behind 2013 Avalon
One of the comments we keep hearing from the general public is how the Toyota Avalon should now be redundant, considering there is the Toyota Aurion on one end and the Lexus ES on the other end. We, for one, believe that it does have a spot in Toyota’s line-up, and that is to fit exactly between those two aforementioned cars, both in terms of price and size. It’s not rocket science to figure that out. Incidentally, Toyota shipped in their chief engineer for the Toyota Avalon to Dubai straight from the United States to talk to the press about the car.
Randall Stephens used to work at Mazda before switching over to Toyota in 1992 as a chassis design engineer. Over the years, he’s had his hand in the making of certain previous generations of the Toyota Camry and the Avalon. More recently, he was the top man responsible for overseeing the creation of the latest Avalon, a car that is important in the American market.
While we like the styling of the current model, we feel it necessarily does not look as “elegant” as the previous version. Randall says the complete makeover was intentionally done to move away from the Avalon’s “conservative” image to give it a more dynamic and youthful look. The Avalon has traditionally been favoured by buyers approaching retirement age, and Toyota wants to rope in younger buyers who may want to move up from the Camry but not jump up to a large Lexus.
We asked if there are any real mechanical changes, since the specs seem to suggest a “carryover” platform and engine. He says the chassis has been made lighter and redesigned for better tuning flexibility rather than an all-out replacement. The handling is now tighter, while the steering has been sharpened up. Under the bonnet, the automatic transmission has been tweaked for better fuel economy, one of the changes being a transmission-fluid warmer to keep performance consistent.
The transition to sporty isn’t without its drawbacks however. When we drove the car, we noticed that rear space is very slightly less than what it used to be. Randall agrees that accommodating the swoopier roofline means making concessions on interior room, but that they’ve “tested” it with consumers to see if they notice, and the public seems fine with it, and it still remains a very spacious car.
The touch-sensitive “buttons” on the centre console are also a nod in the direction of younger gadget-savvy consumers, which is probably why we were handed a Samsung Galaxy S4 at the end of the interview, as a not-so-subtle hint that the Avalon is more modern than what it used to be.
At an earlier chat with Noboyuki Negishi, the Toyota chief for the Middle East, he mentioned that the carmaker now has an astounding 39.6% market share in the Gulf, selling 158,000 cars here in just the first 3 months of 2013, and growing despite the troubles of the past year. With dominance like that, they must be doing something right, even while some of us may never set foot in a Toyota showroom. Majority rules.
Read our first drive of the Toyota Avalon.
Comments
Ahmad Abou el Saoud
i own a Camry touring 2011 with 17 inch rims….the part where you mentioned that the drive is as smooth as the Camry i need clarification on….since i suffer from the totally uncomfortable drive experience with the Camry & i feel all the road details in my back & neck….i was hoping to shift to the Avalon which is American made & listed on so many car reviews site as one of the most comfortable rides due to it’s suspension system….but if it’s the same as Camry then it’s not comfortable at all!…please correct me if i am wrong.
Mashfique Hussain Chowdhury
You bought a Touring model with larger rims, lower-profile tyres and sports suspension when all you really needed was a lower-spec Camry model with smaller alloys and regular bouncy suspension if you were looking for comfort.
marc
i can follow the logic why this car should be obsolete. but still, seeing it in the roads now here, it looks really really nice and classy.
i am the ‘more metal around me, the better’ guy in this country here at least, but otherwise i would look at this thing twice to be honest..
Sting316
Can somebody ask Mr Randall Stephens, Why dafuq My neighbors shitty corolla can power close its outside side mirrors and my brand new state of the art 16000 BD Avalon cant !!!!
Mashfique Hussain Chowdhury
Dealer chooses the specs for each country.
Susan
Totally agree – but the older Avalon model did not have the folding side mirrors. One of the Avalon’s few features that stink. Given the cost of the car, the omission does not make sense.
Sting316
I read online somewhere, and it seems 2013 Avalon worldwide are without it. Due to some previous problems with Lexus E class.
Mashfique Hussain Chowdhury
I think you may be right on that. Don’t know what the issue is.
Sting316
AC vents in the front seats aint no helper. Super fast, super long and super head lights. Ride quality is like hot knife thru butter 🙂
Mudasir
When can we expect discount on this car? Base model price is 128K.
Khalid Mahmud
Years of crying around with the Avalon. Why don’t they allow the ACTUALLY JAPANESE Crowns and Marks instead? Too many similar sub-brands – Crown, Avalon, Mark, Aurion. Why not one strong brand instead of many weak ones?