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2016 Toyota Avalon gets revised equipment, sportier styling

Toyota has been known to make some sporty models. We're not sure we'd count the Avalon as one of them, but while that's not what the Japanese automaker's largest sedan is about, it has gotten a bit more aggressive – at least in the styling department – over successive generations. The current model introduced just a few years ago took things in a decidedly sportier direction, and the updated model revealed here for the 2016 model year takes it a step further. Debuting today at the Chicago Auto Show, the 2016 Toyota Avalon is an evolution of the model we already know. It features revised styling that's just a touch sportier than the model it replaces, and comes packed with updated equipment. As you can see, the reshaped lower grille gives it an incrementally more planted look, flanked by turning indicators to replace the outgoing model's foglamps. Around back are new LED taillights and a chrome bumper accent, and inside, the cabin has been retrimmed with gray accent stitching on the light gray upholstery. The new Avalon will be offered in five trim levels – XLE, XLE Plus, XLE Premium, Limited and Touring – powered by a conventional V6 engine, with Hybrid models dropping the lowest and highest of those trims. The two base models also get new 17-inch alloys, seven-inch dashboard display, new interior trim and tire pressure monitoring system. The XLE Premium gets an upgraded infotainment system with wireless charging, the Limited model gets 18-inch alloys (17 on the hybrid), automatic high beams and added safety systems, while the top-of-the-line Avalon Touring upgrades with larger 18-inch wheels and a revised front fascia as well as LED head- and daytime running lights. The revised Avalon debuts in Chicago alongside the Special Edition models of the Corolla and Camry. FIRST LOOK IN THE "SECOND CITY:" THE REFRESHED 2016 TOYOTA AVALON PREMIUM MID-SIZE SEDAN - Updated Styling - New LED Headlights and Taillights - Retuned Suspension for Enhanced Comfort - Upgraded Convenience Features - 2016 Camry and Corolla Special Editions Also Unveiled CHICAGO, Feb. 12, 2015 - - Call it a trio of firsts in the Second City as the refreshed Toyota Avalon and sporty Camry and Corolla Special Editions made their world debuts at the 2015 Chicago Auto Show. The three models rode into Chicago with a head of steam as the Avalon, Camry and Corolla are each the sales leaders in their respective segments, a first for Toyota.

Toyota's refreshed Sai is a Lexus HS by any other name

Toyota first launched Lexus in the United States back in 1989, but it wasn't until 2005 that it brought the luxury marque home to roost. But don't think that Toyota didn't find a way of selling many of its premium models in the Japanese Domestic Market in the meantime. The Lexus LS was sold as the Toyota Celsion, the ES as the Vista and Camry Prominent, and the SC as the Soarer. (We could go on, but you get the point.)
These days Lexus sells in markets around the world, including Japan, but Toyota still spins off its own versions of Lexus models to sell domestically as well. Like the new Sai, for example. Sharing its platform, hybrid propulsion and much more with the Lexus HS (which you may remember as the world's first dedicated luxury hybrid until it was pulled from the market early last year), the Sai was introduced to Japan at the same time as the HS was rolled out around the world. Now nearly four years on the market, Toyota has given it a bit of a refresh.
Boasting a far more aggressive front end and a restyled rear, the revised Sai features LED headlights, 16-inch alloys and a higher-quality interior in which JDM buyers will find a new center console and trim, along with an optional 10-speaker infotainment system. Toyota also boasts that the new Sai is made of 20-percent Ecological Plastic and recycled resin.

Toyota promoting Mirai as if hydrogen tax credit never went away

At the end of December, the US federal government let the $8,000 tax credit for hydrogen-powered vehicles expire. Despite this little wrinkle, Toyota is still promoting the upcoming 2016 Mirai fuel cell vehicle as a car that will cost under $50,000. In some cases a lot less, since it may also qualify for a $5,000 incentive in California. The car has a $57,500 MSRP, but Nihar Patel, vice president of North American Business Strategy for Toyota Motor Sales, spoke at the 2015 Washington Auto Show last week, and said that the Mirai could cost $44,500 in California. You can see this in the video at around minute four. Toyota knows that the federal incentives have expired, since the real news from the show was Patel's public request to the federal government that the $8,000 tax credit be extended. "We think that the federal credit expiration last year puts [hydrogen] customers in a fairly disadvantageous postion," he said. Plug-in vehicle buyers can still get up to $7,500 tax credit and, "we believe that this inequity needs to be fixed," he said. You can see this in the video at minute 10:20. Toyota said including both the after-incentives price and the call to reinstate those incentives was intentional since it shows a discrepancy between hydrogen and plug-in vehicles in the eyes of the feds. We asked Toyota's director of Energy and Environmental Research, Technical and Regulatory Affairs, Robert Wimmer, for more details on Toyota's request. "[The Mirai] being a ZEV and battery electrics also being ZEVs, we just want to make the playing field as level as possible," he said, adding that any extension would last "for the run of the vehicle," which would be three years. He admitted that the extension might only be for one or two years, if it happens at all. (A Toyota spokesperson clarified to AutoblogGreen that the Mirai program will not end after three years.) And that's the problem. "The tax process is difficult to predict," he said. "The two challenges we have now are that both houses of Congress are Republican and also that there has been talk for a while about comprehensive tax reform. If that moves forward, then extenders would probably be put on the back burner as comprehensive tax reform is discussed." Wimmer would not reveal any details about how Toyota is pressuring the government to act, only saying that Toyota's has people lobbying up on Capitol Hill.