Tag Archives: Toyota Avalon

Toyota Giving Avalon Sedan the Ax After ’22 Model Year

Toyota spruced up the Avalon with the Nightshade package for 2021. It’s ending production after the 2021 model year.

Everybody’s buying crossovers, sport-utilities and trucks these days, but officials within Toyota’s North American operations consistently maintain the company is happy to remain one of the top producers of sedans — but it’s cutting the Avalon from its line-up after the 2022 model year.

The move, first reported by Automotive News, was outlined in a letter to suppliers, and later confirmed by the automaker. The sedan is built at Toyota’s plant in Georgetown, Kentucky. It will leave the company with four sedans, one of which is the Mirai, the company’s fuel-cell model that sells in very low volume right now.

The Avalon is the Japanese brand’s largest offering in the segment. Refreshed in 2019 and due for an update next year, the fifth-generation model is selling well this year, up 36.6% through the first six months of the year. However, of the five sedans in the company’s line-up, it was the laggard, trailing Camry, Corolla and Prius. 

In fact, the Prius sold 28,000 more units through June than the Avalon. However, it did outperform one four-door model: the aforementioned Mirai. However, the fuel-cell sedan — by percentages — smoked the Avalon, seeing a 664.1% jump in first-half sales.

The Avalon’s been the brand’s flagship model for 26 years.

We like sedans

Last week, Toyota’s U.S. sales chief Bob Carter reiterated the company’s commitment to the segment during an online meeting with reporters.

“As a company — both Toyota and Lexus — we sold nearly 70,000 sedans last month,” he said. “Compare that to the other companies out there, that’s a very dominant number. There are consumers out there, even at 20% of the industry we’re looking at 4, 4.25 million sales out there so there is a market.”

Carter conceded the profits may be lower on those vehicles, but “it is a profitable business for us.” However, it’s the large car segment that may be suffering the most in the sedan market, and the Avalon was also a laggard there too, outselling only the Nissan Maxima in the first half of the year. Plus, the top sellers in the very small segment are essentially muscle cars: the Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300C.