March 15: Toyota - boring?

 Toyota boring? No way. I mean, who started that ugly rumour. Boring? That huge car manufacturer who brought us the riveting Corolla or the stimulating Camry or even your grandfather's Avalon. Boring? Yeah, I guess so. Not one of those cars would win any award for interesting styling or what would have been better, an engaging ride. Say what you will about Honda's cars, but they, at least, handled beautifully. All one could say about Toyota, was that their cars were rock solid and very reliable. Since their sales were really strong, hard to fault their modus operandi.

A few years back, Toyota introduced the Venza.........

.......and for a Toyota this one had great style. Hard to believe that this came from the same company that, gave us the pedestrian looking Corolla and Camry. After about seven years, I think the Venza still appears fresh, with its chopped top look.

But what is going on with Toyota these days? I recently wrote about the transformation that Lexus is undergoing. Origami styling and valiant efforts to make their cars true BMW competitors. So, what is now filtering down to their volume lines?

Prius. Anyone think outside the styling box, when it comes to this hybrid? Well someone did, as you can see by the rear end of the newly redesigned 2016 Prius. It is certainly an edgy design. A year ago, those taillights on a Toyota would have been a travesty. "Cool" might be a new word to be associated with Toyota (hey, Barry, let's not get too crazy).

And last year, Toyota showed the C-HR concept for a smaller sport ute. Edgy, origami styling all over the place, but hey, concepts are usually a long way from production. Maybe, maybe not.

A couple of weeks back, Toyota took the wraps off of the production version. How close is the street model to the concept?

Not a bad move from the auto show circuit to the production line in my (no so) humble opinion. Originally meant to help revive the gasping for breathe, but now dead Scion brand, the C-HR will be a new Toyota, coming in under the very popular Rav4 in price and size.

But about that name? Honda has a competing model called the HR-V, so how confusing is it for Toyota to be selling their C-HR? Aren't there more than enough letters to go around, without using almost the same ones for competing products? I mean, there are twenty two others they could have chosen. Oh well, greater minds....., etc.

So with Toyota's new style language, it follows that they will make their cars better handlers as well. So, now maybe, they will finally live up to the reputation, they have acquired on the racetracks of NASCAR.

Any bets?

Until next time.......