SUV fashion is unstoppable. All brands are succumbing to a trend that the market has embraced with open arms and currently represents a high percentage of sales, so it is curious that the brand that opened the melon of SUVs with the Toyota RAV4 is not too active in this segment.
After the presentation of Yaris Cross, Toyota is going to delve even further into this type of bodywork by bringing to Europe its first large SUV, the Toyota Highlander, a model that is present in our markets but had not yet set foot on our roads.
Toyota Highlander gets into big SUV war
Manufactured on the TNGA global architecture platform, the Toyota Highlander is a large SUV, located above the Toyota RAV4 and unknown in our territory. A modern-looking up to seven-seater SUV called to compete in a segment in which the Japanese manufacturer currently has no presence, at least in our market.
With a very family line but with very marked features, the Highlander sports a large front grille, ripped headlights and a tall, muscular hood. On the sides, the wheel arches mark the character of a car that in the rear remains faithful to the latest designs of the Japanese brand, with headlights in a horizontal arrangement and triangular shapes that extend down the side of the body.
As for the engines, the Highlander will land only with one configuration: a hybrid scheme that combines a 2.5-liter Atkinson cycle combustion engine with two electric motors (one on each axis), achieving a combined power of 244 hp for an approved consumption of 6.6 liters per 100 kilometers.
This SUV is in its fourth generation and will arrive in Europe in early 2021 predictably. The price has yet to be determined and will be public as the marketing date approaches.
The Toyota Highlander will be called to compete against other large SUVs such as the Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Sorento, SEAT Tarraco or Škoda Kodiaq, being slightly above all of them in terms of exterior dimensions, as the Highlander reaches 4,855 mm in total length.