I agree with those that have said – people who purchased an Avalon, won’t likely purchase a stretch Camry (unless it gets GREAT reviews). I don’t think that will work, as “it’s still a Camry” no matter what you call it. And those of us who care (or have some kind of ego) – just don’t want a Camry, which is why we purchased an Avalon.

Gas milage … well unless gas goes to 4, 5 or $6.00 a gallon, and they increase the MPG and the Camry to 50+, I’m not sure that’s a big deal.

I put on 30,000+ a year, and I’m much more concerned with comfort, then with gas mileage.

Now it would seem more like that Toyota would make a NEW entry model Lexus if anything.

Rumor had it, that the Avalon, DID dip into the sales for some of the Lexus models, and why not, at $10,000 less (or more) – it is a great car for the money.

I’m hoping (like many) that Toyota does in fact, come out with a new Avalon, and YES I’ll be first in line to try one.

While I like the looks of the Aurion, esp. the Sportivo and TRD versions… I hardly believe it to be an “Avalon replacement”. As currently sold in Australia, it’s just a rebodied Camry with more power, some different interior treatments, and different tuning to appeal to the Aussie’s who are more nationalistic and staunch in wanting a Falcon/Commodore-like driving experience (more engaging, most of our U.S. models have been less engaging than both for quite some time, sadly). Considering we get the V6 Camry here (Australia’s Camry is only powered by the 4-cylinder, Aurion’s get the V6′s) and have SE versions of the 4 and 6 cylinder models, there’s really only the gain of having the different nose and tail treatments. That alone could be given to us as an updated Camry which should be due soon anyhow. That said, base Aurion’s are no more exciting styling-wise than the U.S. Camry really. It’s only when you get to the Sportivo and TRD models that the styling finally gets more exciting looking (I like ‘em better than the U.S. SE, which isn’t a terrible looking car but isn’t exactly earth-shattering either).

That said… if Toyota were to do anything, I think they should keep the Camry range and position the Avalon-replacement *away* from the Camry more. As it is, right now the only things the Avalon offers over the Camry is a tiny bit more room (at considerable expense over a V6 Camry) and some additional convenience features that could be added to the Camry next gen. anyhow. That increased differentiation could be achieved by a longer-wheelbase IS platform offering the 3.5 Liter V6 and even a Hybrid driveline. If Toyota aims to make the FT-HS; I would think pairing it up with the IS would be a good plan… and those 2 could also share mechanicals with a mid-size and a larger full-size RWD sedan for the U.S., Japan, and Australia. If they need 2 different names, they could call it an Aussie Camry/Aurion (i.e. do away with the FWD variant or even rebadge it as something else) or a U.S. Aurion/Avalon or Crown/Aurion (or whatever you want to call them) to go alongside the FWD Camry.

When the original Avalon was built, it was designed to be a Japanese large sedan… a long wheelbase Camry with a hair different styling (not anything more dramatic and it isn’t really anymore dramatic today either), while cheaper to build since it’s essentially the same sheet metal, it probably won’t sell in significant volumes more than the Avalon itself, and in the end since the Avalon is Camry-based as it is, it’s not really a gain either way. At the time of the original Avalon, with the huge success of the old RWD Chevrolet Impala SS… there was initially some talks about a sportier U.S. Avalon that never materialized (and didn’t with the next gen version either). While many auto magazines have long since recognized the Avalon as “beating Buick at their own game”, considering Buick’s US sales and target audience… I don’t think it’s the market that Toyota needs to gun for to make the product have a long-term benefit to their lineup like the Camry and Corolla have.

I think that the Aurion/Avalon or whatever you want to call it should be aligned and an effort to further differentiate them from the Camry should be the order of the day. With the IS’s sporting pretensions (and even the interests of Aussie’s tending to prefer more sporting oriented cars… much as we in America do), a longer wheelbase car with the same sporting caliber would likely be VERY welcome in Australia, esp. if it showed up with the same Euro character that the former Ford execs that conceived the Aurion were brought in to imbue. Make it less of a Toyota Buick, and more of a Toyota version of an old sporting Impala or even the Aussie Falcon/Holden Commodore. Considering many Americans drool over the G8 and the Aussie Falcon, it’s a no brainer to look into offering a next gen. 6-cylinder and TRD supercharged/turbo 6 model with RWD to us.

That said… the Falcon/Commodore are more Camry-sized as it stands. The U.S. Avalon is bigger than both of them and the Aurion as well. If they need to compete with larger, then you’re more talking about a Holden Statesman (Ford has thus far not shown a long-wheelbase version of the Falcon/G6). In that event… a U.S. Avalon could essentially be an extended wheelbase RWD Aurion using the IS platform. That said, I still would love to see a more Falcon/Commodore-sized RWD Aurion as I think it’d sell well over here as well. In Australia, they could even look towards offering a Toyota Ute off of the platform as well.

I also think, as was said earlier, that an IS-based SC makes more sense. That said, even just an IS convertible is probably the way to go. It’d cost less and not be a “cream puff” like the current SC. I don’t so much hate the current SC’s styling in as much as it sort of feels like an orphan in the Lexus lineup considering it’s been on the market for awhile and is still a rather heavy and sluggish coupe. I think you could almost argue that the Solara is as sporting or more sporting and it’s equally as orphaned. You can’t put coupes on the market long-term and gleen sales from them long-term. Coupes are about immediate visual impact and once they’re there for a bit, their time is often up. Whether the market is dry on them, I’m not too sure… but I do believe that the costs of making them successful is a bit higher so return on investment (ROI) is not nearly as good. That said, if you opt to bring out a new coupe/sedan variation every 4-5 years, I think coupes can be successful. Sedans can last longer but their styling isn’t nearly as much about being dynamic, at least not unless you go the Chrysler way and appeal to a percentage of the market by going big, and then changing the design up often to appeal to others. That’s the part of the “going big or go home” aspect Chrysler is missing the boat on.

@LS7,
Hardtops aren’t that expensive. The Pontiac G6 is a hardtop vert for less than $30k.

Considering its price point Corvette is an apt comparison, but considering what it offers, the VW or Mustang are better choices.

Avalon is dead because its customer base is. The average buyer of an Avalon is OLDER than a Buick Lucerne customer, and that’s a car specifically targeted at grey hairs.

@crackerhemi,
Luxury coupe? The SC is a Toyota Soarer which IS their “mustang” in Japan. The comparison to the faster Ford is relevant. Just because the SC is $30k overpriced and sold with the wrong badge doesn’t mean its a luxury coupe not worthy of comparison with “cheaper” cars.

Surprised the Avalon is going

But I think the biggest downfall was it’s price. I think it starts around 60k, which is a lot for a car that doesn’t have much performance. Sure, it’s done alright in racing, but it’s not nearly the same car. Top Gear did a test drive, Lexus SC-Hyundai Coupe comparo. The Hyundai was *none* of the things the Hyundai Coupe was. That scares me.

As for the Avalon, it’s in a market that’s dominated by large American cars. It’s not a bad car, but it could do with a few modest trims and “special” features, as well as some advertising. If there has been any ad campaign for it, I haven’t seen a single result.

As for the Avalon, I think Toyota is making a huge mistake. I don’t think potential Avalon buyers will automatically accept a stretched Camry as a replacement product. I think Avalon buyers appreciate Toyota’s “assumed” reliability, but want something a little more exclusive and upscale than the mundane and mainstream Camry. The direction I think Toyota should explore is offering a more fuel efficient base engine in this car (isn’t Ford planning to offer an EcoBoost 4 cylinder in the redesigned Taurus next year?). The availability of a more fuel efficient engine might appeal to those buyers (and I’m sure there are some out there somewhere) who want the roominess and upscale perception of the Avalon combined with a more fuel efficient engine option (I’m sure most buyers of this car aren’t attempting to win any on-road drag strip races anyway). While Toyota will save development and marketing costs with the stretched Camry idea (which is what the Avalon essentially is), I think they will end up losing buyers by not offering a separate large sedan model.