Toyota reboots Sienna minvian and Venza SUV with new style and hybrid tech
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}With major auto shows postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Toyota has introduced a couple of its upcoming models through an online Spring Showcase information drop.
(Toyota)
The 2021 Venza is a successor to a model that was discontinued in 2015, while the 2021 Sienna is set to be Toyota’s first hybrid minivan offering in the United States.
(Toyota)
The Venza will only be available as an all-wheel-drive hybrid when it goes on sale this summer. The two-row, five-passenger midsize utility vehicle slots between the Rav4 and Highlander in the automaker’s lineup and shares their modular platform. It uses the Rav4 Hybrid’s powertrain, which is comprised of a hybrid unit anchored by a 2.5-liter four-cylinder driving the front wheels and a separate electric motor for the rear wheels. Toyota estimates that the 219-hp setup will be good for a 40 mpg EPA rating, the same as the Rav4’s.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Standout features include a standard electronic driver aid system with radar cruise control and automatic emergency brakes, an available 1,200-watt audio system and a panoramic sunroof equipped with a Star Gaze function that uses electrochromatic technology to adjust its opaqueness, instead of a physical shade.
(Toyota)
The all-new Sienna is also built on the modular platform with the hybrid powertrain, but it gets the Highlander's 253-hp version and comes in both front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive models. It’s dramatic styling features heavily sculpted flanks and a tailgate that mimics the rear of the Toyota Supra sports car’s as much as a minivan can.
(Toyota)
Toyota expects it to deliver a combined 33 mpg rating when testing is complete ahead of its launch late this year. That would make it the most fuel-efficient minivan without plug-in charging capability.
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The seven-to-eight-passenger Sienna features the full suite of Toyota safety tech and is available with a 360-degree camera system and digital rear view mirror, plus a built-in vacuum and refrigerator on some models.
The Sienna is available with legrest-equipped second-row reclining seats. (Toyota)
Pricing for the Venza and Sienna will be announced closer to when they arrive in showrooms.