Sometimes when reading Automotive News or other industry publications like it, you’ll come across a detail in a story that is somewhat bigger news than the story makes it out to be, probably because the reporter has heard about the thing for a while and knows it is real but it’s only ever been mentioned off the record or at cocktail hour. Here, probably, is such a thing (emphasis mine):
While the global industry prepares for waves of new electric vehicles, Japan’s big three automakers largely will be focused on introducing, renewing and freshening mainstream vehicles — at least for a while.
[…]
Toyota is planning this year to introduce an entry-level compact crossover called the Corolla Cross, and in 2023, a larger, three-row crossover expected to be marketed as the Grand Highlander.
“Expected to be marketed as the Grand Highlander” is not something an Automotive News reporter would write without knowing that there is a very, very good chance that the new SUV will be called Grand Highlander; an Automotive News reporter would also be unlikely to make an educated guess, in the pages of Automotive News. Because why do either of those two things when you know, because you’ve been told already, or many people at industry events have been talking about it already? Or because it is a thing that has been talked about — but not reported — for so long that you can’t even remember where you first heard it.
This, friends, is how the sausage gets made, and, I wish I could say that it was more interesting than it is, but, because this is the car industry, it is usually not, it is usually something like this, the name of a new car or the fact that a certain trim may or may not be offered or the price, etc. Is anyone or anything materially different now that the Grand Highlander name is out in the world without any other details? Did markets move? Are there Toyota superfans out there who have been eagerly awaiting this news? The answer to those questions is “no,” “no,” and “probably.”
Anyway, one bit of news from Toyota that I would scream from the mountaintops if it were only true is something something GR Yaris something something America. You should do something about that, Toyota.
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