Toyota Wants Revised Lineup To Return to Core Goals

Yoshi Inaba, the new president of Toyota Motor North America, is a man on a mission-albeit his mission is nothing new. Inaba wants Toyota's North American lineup to return to its roots of value, quality, and superb gas mileage -- or, as he told Automotive News, vehicles "people fall in love with."

If there's one Toyota model that woos buyers, it's arguably the Prius. Fresh off an overhaul for 2010, Toyota isn't planning to revise its hybrid hatchback anytime soon, but it continues to tinker with a plug-in hybrid version (a prototype will appear at the 2009 Frankfurt motor show).

A number of Toyota's other sedans are currently in the middle of their life cycles. Toyota's bread-and-butter offering -- the Camry -- saw a refresh in March, and won't be heavily overhauled until 2012. A new Avalon luxury sedan is also due that same year, although a new Corolla, possibly offered in hybrid form, won't arrive until 2013.

Toyota's small car portfolio will likely be pared down, thanks in no small part to the discontinuation of the NUMMI assembly plant. No NUMMI likely means no Toyota Matrix, leaving the Yaris as the main compact hatchback in Toyota's lineup. An all-new model is due sometime around 2012, when it may gain a hybrid variant.

Along with a redesigned 2010 4Runner (due to be unveiled later this month), Toyota's compact RAV-4 sport utility will be completely overhauled come 2012. The Tundra, Land Cruiser, and Sequoia will carry on with little or no change, although the body-on-frame FJ Cruiser may not live to see a second generation.

Toyota's Highlander crossover will be refreshed for 2011, but no changes to the Venza -- a crossover new for 2009 -- are expected for several years. Toyota does hope to revise its Sienna minivan by 2011, offering both a hybrid model and a supposedly "sporty" model, designed to appeal to men.