Much like the American bison, which roamed North America in large herds until being nearly driven to extinction through commercial hunting, large sedans have gone from being the standard choice in people moving to barely a sighting in any modern parking lot.
This week, the large sedan segment takes another hit. According to Automotive News, Toyota notified suppliers this week that 2022 would be the last model year for the Avalon.
New for 1994, the Avalon entered Toyota’s lineup as a primarily North American only model, slotting above the perennially best selling Camry. Positioned as a near luxury product, the Avalon has alway been known for offering Lexus luxury at Toyota prices, particularly in its last few generations when the model shed its octogenarian-friendly ride and handling for more sporting pretensions.
Toyota made sure the Avalon kept up with the times, and began to offer an optional hybrid powertrain for the 2013 model year with surprisingly good fuel economy and decent, if not earth-shattering acceleration. Buyers who value passing power above all else could stick to the stout, yet silky smooth 3.5L V6.
The fifth generation Avalon—known internally as the XX50—was introduced in 2018 with sleek but polarizing styling, the most jarring element being a very wide and tall grille taking up the vast majority of the front fascia. In my opinion, the grille’s mesh pattern on the sportier trims (XSE, Touring) seemed to accentuate its gargantuan proportions, and the grille treatment on the more luxury oriented trims (XLE and Limited) was far more successful.
Longer, lower, and wider than previous Avalons, my favorite styling element of this last generation is the Mercedes CL-esque treatment of the C-pillar and its rear quarter windows. Toyota has no right to nail design details on a mainstream sedan with such perfection.
Across this last generation Toyota introduced a few new trims, including the Nightshade trim and controversial but fairly sinister Avalon TRD-Pro. In 2021 a third, not very exciting powertrain appeared for some trims, a 2.5L naturally aspirated four cylinder paired with AWD cribbed from the RAV4.
As with most cars facing the chopping block, there was no mid-cycle refresh for this generation. It would have been nice to see how Toyota’s designers could have tweaked the current design, but now we will never know.
With the winds of change sweeping through the current automotive market and the recent cancellations of the Chevrolet Impala, Buick LaCrosse, Ford Taurus, Kia Cadenza, Volkswagen Passat and now the Avalon, it is not difficult to imagine we’ll be seeing a similar announcement about the Nissan Maxima soon. Watch this space.
Unlike the American bison these days, large sedans remain a critically endangered species. Although I wish the segment could continue to exist as a premium alternative to the SUV/crossover juggernaut that is currently decimating any semblance of choice in today’s automotive landscape, that is not the case. Manufacturers can only build what people are willing to buy and mainstream buyers these days aren’t leaving showrooms jingling the keys of full sized sedans.
Farewell Avalon. You’ve punched well above your weight for almost three comfortable, reliable decades and today’s news is no fault of your own.
You can check out our fifth generation Toyota Avalon gallery here.
