Toyota will launch 12 all-new or significantly redesigned vehicles over a three-year span that began last fall with the introduction of the redesigned 2019 RAV4, a top executive said.
That doesn’t count eight other vehicles that will be refreshed in that same time span, said Jack Hollis, Toyota Division general manager. And that total only applies to Toyota Division; it doesn’t include “special edition” models. Nor does it count vehicles coming from Lexus.
“This is more new-vehicle launches than in any three-year period in Toyota history,” Hollis said in an interview at the New York International Auto Show.
Already counting in the total are the redesigned RAV4, redesigned Corolla sedan, and newly available Corolla sedan hybrid—but not counting the Corolla hatchback.
Coming later this year will be the new Supra, redesigned Highlander, and redesigned Yaris (a rebadged version of the Mazda2 hatchback). Looking down the road, a new Sienna is due. The three-year span does not include the next-generation Camry, which would be due for a redesign in fall 2022 if on a traditional five-year cycle. Also not on the docket for a change: Land Cruiser, which is “not on the horizon,” Hollis said. But Toyota North America remains committed to the Land Cruiser, as other outlets have reported.
While not confirming that their launch timing would fall within the three-year span, Hollis did acknowledge that a new platform that will underpin Tundra, Tacoma, 4Runner, and Sequoia is in development. That said, with the Tacoma and aging 4Runner having their best sales years ever in 2018, there’s not a big rush to reinvent those two body-on-frame vehicles.
“All four of those vehicles are important to our family, and they will come in a cadence,” Hollis said, his voice speeding up in excitement as he describes himself as “a body-on-frame guy,” with a history of truck and purist-SUV ownership.
Hollis also noted that, while not trying to battle Detroit for pickup sales supremacy, the new pickup truck assembly plant in Guanajuato, Mexico, will make room in San Antonio, Texas, for either more trucks or truck variants.
Guanajuato will open with a 100,000-unit annual capacity, but by 2025 that number could rise to 300,000 units a year. And Toyota and Mazda’s new shared plant in Alabama also will have a 300,000-unit capacity for a Corolla and unspecified Mazda (perhaps CX-30) when it opens in 2021. Moving Corolla capacity to Alabama frees up space at Toyota’s Mississippi plant for Corolla-sized variants.
Hollis suggested Toyota might add same-segment variants currently not in its product portfolio. Rather than risking investment in white spaces where there currently are no players, Hollis said doubling up in hot segments could pay bigger dividends.
In looking across the show floor at the Hyundai Venue that nudges up against Hyundai’s Kona, Hollis hinted, “There’s room underneath the RAV4,” for a crossover product in addition to the C-HR hatchback—adding that the C-HR’s lack of all-wheel drive is “limiting.”
“They can be in the same segment, but at a different price point. Or one is on-road, while the other is off-road. It could be taller, wider, or more capable,” Hollis said. “We get caught wanting to be in different segments, but what about multiple products in the same segment?”
And although having similar-segment vehicles on the same showroom floor can lead to cannibalization of sales, Hollis said, usually the final result is an incremental sales gain.
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