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All new Toyotas will get a new grille and ‘family face’, as part of company boss Akio Toyoda’s aim to give the cars more emotional appeal.

Although the new front-end look is still being finalised, Toyota Europe boss Didier Leroy says it will be more consistent and recognisable than that of the current line-up.

See pics of the Toyota FT-86 concept

Smaller cars will be made to l...Read the full article

If Toyota's mainstream cars got even a fraction of the style of the FT-86 it would be a step forward.they should let a designer loose at Lexus too,that brand needs a corporate face too.

 I hope this doesnt mean an oversized, low slung grille on the front of new models. So many other manufacturers (Ford, Citroen, etc..) have gone down this line, I'm just getting a bit bored with it.

Flash Harry:

If Toyota's mainstream cars got even a fraction of the style of the FT-86 it would be a step forward.they should let a designer loose at Lexus too,that brand needs a corporate face too.

 

 

I could not agree more. I forgot how stunning the FT-86 concept is!! If they do it right they could have some of the best looking cars on the road.

I feel Lexus have more of a corporate face/look than Toyota because to me they are more instantly recognizable. 

Since when did any Toyota have any style?

It's be interesting to see what they make of it. But a Corolla/Auris, the bigger one (Avensis?), the Yaris, the Camry, the plethora of SUVs - all either downright ugly or unrelently boring vehicles.

evanstim:

Since when did any Toyota have any style?

Toyota has produced any number of cars with distinctive style; their 3-door RAV4 a radical innovation, now in auto history books, and subsequent models just as pert and cheeky in design. One can also think of the MR2, and the 1Q.

What the company doesn't have is a coherent company standard or singularly identifiable grille. Then again, neither does Nissan. Like Jaguar of old there is something to be said for being free of styling constraints, free to make each car work on its own terms, according to its function.

The other route is to do as Mazda does, stick an artificially shaped company grille on all saloons and then add it to an established sports car, forced then to get everything behind it in harmony with it ... just as Jaguar are doing now.

Or worse, follow VW's example with its ersatz Bugatti - create a facsimile of a Bugatti grille, a rough approximation, and stick it on a large blob, creating a fireplace for a nose.

 

Los Angeles:

evanstim:

Since when did any Toyota have any style?

Toyota has produced any number of cars with distinctive style; their 3-door RAV4 a radical innovation, now in auto history books, and subsequent models just as pert and cheeky in design. One can also think of the MR2, and the 1Q.

Yes, the 3 door RAV4 is in the history books alright...as a vehicle bought mostly by women (it is estimated to be only second to the VW 'new' Beetle in the US...).

IMO, MR2 was nothing special, and the iQ is even less.

And I agree with other posters that the rest of the range (Avensis, Auris...which apparently got a facelift...) is so dull and forgetful. Life is short...make something more fun and interesting while we're here!

Christian Galea:

...as a vehicle bought mostly by women

And your point is?

Christian Galea:

the 3 door RAV4 is in the history books alright...as a vehicle bought mostly by women

Not in any I've read. But if true it only confirms the vehicle extremely popular, V6 version too. You fail to address a single point I make. Discussing ideas makes car websites interesting rather than reiterating dogged opinion.

I think Toyota have to be very carefull,they have never sold

cars on style.

Should they go too far they could well lose sales not gain sales.,those

who buy these cars do not want to stand out.

 

 

So let,s talk about reality mister Angel low...

fact is that apart Suzuki and in some extent Mazda (6 and CX-7) no cars from Japan have any style.

 

I bet that the money from Toyota will be better spent addressing the quality (lack of them) than trying to inject some corporate face...

They have lost them...

we don`t need my Toyota, we need Toyotas that work, don`t breakdown and don`t come with several recalls in a row.

This is my contribution to this Forum.

thank you very much, you don`t need to say thanks.

 

coolboy:

no cars from Japan have any style.

I presume you are not making that remark while in a tea house in Tokyo.

All Japanese cars have "style." What does a Datsun 260Z have but timeless GT sports car styling? Even the absence of an identifiable style is a style statement. Surely you mean, beyond a badge they do not always conform to a corporate identity? Well, I suggest that might be a good thing.