Design Ins and Outs Of The 2009 Toyota Venza
Design Ins and Outs Of The 2009 Toyota Venza
08/11/2008 Torrance, CA
August 11, 2008 - Torrance, CA - The 2009 Toyota Venza, scheduled to go on sale later this year, is the first example of Toyota’s new direction in passenger car design combining elegance, innovation, comfort and utility.
“We wanted to create something entirely different,” said Kevin Hunter, president of Toyota’s Calty Design Research in Newport Beach, Calif., and Ann Arbor, Mich. “Not an SUV, not a wagon, not a coupe and not a sedan. We aimed for a more road-focused vehicle and sporty direction.”
Venza is based on the FT-SX concept vehicle that debuted at the 2005 Detroit Auto Show. With an overwhelmingly positive response to the show vehicle, Toyota decided to develop Venza with a distinctly American plan.
Toyota’s U.S. design and engineering teams worked together to bring this bold design to production. It was one of the first times an American styling group created an overall design concept that engineers would follow for development. Venza will be assembled at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Ky., home of the Camry, Solara and Avalon. More than 70 percent of its components will come from North American suppliers.
A new genre in personal transportation, Venza incorporates SUV utility and roominess, while maintaining passenger car essentials, such as ease of ingress/egress, performance, a lower, sleek side profile with aerodynamic lines, and unrivaled interior features to deliver optimal comfort.
“We used Toyota’s design philosophy, ‘Vibrant Clarity’ to create a more exciting drive for the customer while still maintaining its high functionality,” explained Hunter.
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