Avalon

Make
Toyota
Segment
Sedan

Last year at Detroit it was the all-new Toyota Camry. This year will be the fifth-generation Avalon large sedan making its official debut in the Motor City. The Avalon has never been, and very likely never will be, a car for enthusiasts. It's no BMW 5 Series fighter. Instead, it's a large highway cruiser sedan, a reminder of when sedans were wildly popular in the US before the outbreak of crossovers. To kick off the Avalon rollout, Toyota has released this single teaser image of the car which, quite clearly, previews the front headlights and grille.

Although we should keep our expectations in check, there is some effort here to give the new Avalon some pizzazz. Notice the Y-shaped LEDs, similar to what Lamborghini is doing these days. The front grille features sharp curves and an apparently overall wider stance, somewhat reminiscent of Audi design. Still, this teaser won't exactly generate a lot of buzz for a car that has very limited (if any) youth appeal. The Avalon, to its credit, has remained true to itself since launching back in 1994; safe, reliable, comfortable, with massive rear seat space. Like the new Camry, expect the new Avalon to have a more emotional design, inside and out.

But will that be enough to sustain sales? After all, its Hyundai Azera competitor was killed off last year, leaving the likes of the Lincoln Continental, Buick LaCrosse and Cadillac XTS as its main rivals. But if the large, full-size sedan is to have a future beyond Baby Boomers, this next Avalon has to be killer and this teaser image isn't doing it for us. More details to come as we get closer to Detroit next month.