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"Always benchmarked, never surpassed"
This is many years, every time the Toyota Highlander is mentioned, many people will think of a sentence at the same time. Both the joint venture camp and the autonomous camp of SUVs have played the slogan of benchmarking against the "Highlander Killer". But their end result is just one of many products that only benchmark Highlander on slogans.
In the last year or two, Highlander's dominance that lasted for more than a decade has quietly changed. Its sales are not as strong as before, and more than one product from the Chinese brand camp has posed a clear threat to Highlander.
Perhaps sensing the threat before, Toyota quietly developed a larger and higher-end 7-seater SUV than the Highlander and named it the Grand Highlander.
There is no Chinese name, let's call it "Greater Highlander" for the time being
What kind of car is this? In the future, together with Highlander, can it continue to maintain its position in China's 6/7-seat SUV market?
Bigger and bigger Highlander
The Toyota Highlander has been a young model throughout Toyota's history. Since its debut in 2000, it has been introduced in four generations.
The Highlander we know well, the vast majority of sales are contributed by the 7-seat version. When the original Highlander went on sale twenty years ago, there were actually only 5-seat versions. The original Highlander was less than 4.7 meters long and had a wheelbase of only 2715mm, which is similar to today's Toyota RAV4.
But as can be seen from the pictures, the appearance of the original Highlander has a great sense of volume, and it completely has the basis for setting up three rows of seats. In 2004, when the original Highlander was remodeled in the mid-term, Toyota introduced a 7-seat version of it, and it was this important measure that made the Highlander the best-selling 7-seat SUV in the Chinese and American markets in the following time.
The second-generation Highlander, which went on sale in 2007, is more familiar to us. The 3.5-liter version of this car was originally imported into China, and by 2009 Toyota officially introduced domestic production, selling 35,000 units in half a year. In 2011, sales increased to 95,000 units, which was already at the top of the SUV market, which had not yet exploded.
The size of the second-generation Highlander has been greatly increased, the wheelbase has reached 2790mm, the length of the car has reached 4785mm, and the width of the car has exceeded 1.9 meters, although it is positioned as a mid-size SUV, but the overall volume is larger than many mid-size SUVs of the same period.
In 2014, the third generation of Highlander was launched, and the length and width of the car were further significantly increased. But the wheelbase did not grow, but was 1mm shorter than the previous generation. At the same time, the front face style of the new Highlander has changed significantly, and the huge middle net with an inverted trapezoidal shape is much more domineering than before, and the overall momentum is very prominent with its own relatively large size. In addition, the interior texture of the three generations of Highlander has been significantly improved compared with before, and it is more modern and technological.
The fourth-generation Highlander has been launched overseas as early as the end of 2019, and this time the size of the Highlander has ushered in another significant increase, reaching 4965mm in length and 1930mm in width, which actually meets the standard of medium and large SUVs. But its 2850mm wheelbase is still in the range of mid-size SUVs, coupled with its own price positioning, Highlander is still in the mid-size SUV class, but its terminal price has long reached or even surpassed the Volkswagen Touan, Ford Explorer and other medium and large SUVs.
It was also at this time that Highlander encountered unprecedented challenges in the Chinese market.
First of all, Toyota's own house, FAW Toyota launched its sister model Crown Land Release, which sold a total of 46,000 units last year, while Highlander fell from 100,000+ annual sales to 87,000 units, of which many were diverted by Crown Land Release.
The second is the challenge from Chinese brand competitors, ideal ONE achieved monthly sales of 10,000 vehicles very early, and the product and price positioning are highly similar to Highlander, although the audience of the two brands is quite different. In the past six months, Ideal has concentrated on the launch of L9/L8/L7 three new cars covering the large 6-seater, medium and large 6-seater/5-seat categories, and each of them has shown the potential of monthly sales of 10,000 vehicles.
In fact, combined with sales and terminal prices, Highlander has lost its position as the benchmark for 6/7-seat SUVs in China. Although its sales have not shrunk significantly, the pressure has become more and more obvious. At this time, Toyota is in need of a newly positioned 7-seat SUV to reverse the current passive situation.
Grand Highlander
What kind of car is it?
It should be pointed out that the Greater Highlander is not a model developed for the Chinese market or under the pressure of the Chinese market. It is designed and positioned with a focus on the North American consumer, essentially an American-style mid-to-large SUV. Of course, this does not mean that Toyota does not need this new car in the Chinese market.
The size is flat on the Touran
One level larger than Highlander
First of all, as the name suggests, the Great Highlander is definitely bigger than the Highlander. It does use the same platform architecture as Highlander, and even shares production lines with Highlander when it is produced in the United States.
Compared with the Highlander, the wheelbase of the Greater Highlander is nearly 100mm longer, the body is about 150mm longer, and the width of the car is close to 2 meters, which is larger overall, and has reached the level of medium and large size. However, in the US market, it is not Toyota's flagship SUV, it has a large SUV based on a non-load-bearing body and focuses on hardcore off-road - Sequoia, and the positioning of the Greater Highlander is between Highlander and Sequoia.
The size of the Greater Highlander has not surpassed Toyota's mid-to-large MPV, the Xena, which has slightly larger dimensions and wheelbase than the Greater Highlander. At the same time, considering the limitations of the SUV itself in terms of space, if there is a high demand for multi-person riding comfort in China, it is more secure to choose an MPV such as Saina.
As for the opponents in the domestic market, they are mainly Volkswagen Touan, ideal L8/L9, and high-end electric SUVs such as NIO ES8.
The width and height of the Greater Highlander are the same as the Toon, and the wheelbase is slightly shorter, but the body is longer, and the overall is basically equal to the Toon. Compared with the ideal L8 and NIO ES8, which are also positioned as medium- and large-sized three-row SUVs, the wheelbase of the Greater Highlander is slightly shorter and the body is slightly longer, which is basically flat. However, compared with the ideal L9 that reaches the large SUV, the wheelbase and body of the Great Highlander have a significant gap.
The third row can seat adults
But expect too much
Highlander has been the benchmark in the 7-seat SUV market for many years, but the space and comfort of three rows of seats is not Highlander's strength, adults can only take a short distance emergency, compared to the Touran, which is more spacious in the whole car, Highlander's ride and storage space, can not really bear the positioning of 7-seat SUV.
The root of Highlander's many years of hot sales still lies in its own size, word of mouth, and if there is a clear demand for the third row, it will still consider a larger SUV such as MPV or Touran.
The wheelbase and body of the Greater Highlander have been significantly increased, and the extra 96mm of wheelbase can significantly widen the space of the three rows of seats, and the extra 151mm of the body can further expand the storage space of the trunk. Since the new car has not been unveiled in China, there is no chance to test the experience, but we can also speculate about the spatial performance of the Greater Highlander through pictures and overseas media evaluations.
Above is the official propaganda picture, the height of the third row of elderly blacks is obviously not low, under the premise of sitting in the second row of babies, there can be a state that looks more generous in the third row, but this is the official picture, let's take a look at the actual shot of the media:
The screenshot of this media evaluation is somewhat informative, in the picture, in the case of the second row obviously folded forward, the male state is obviously more cramped, and the space and sitting posture are not stretched. But the three rows of backrests of the Great Highlander support a wide range of angle adjustment, and it can be seen from the state of the woman on the right that although the leg space is average, the whole person can have a better reclining position, and the head space is instantly much more spacious.
If you look at the seat alone, you can see that the cushion and backrest of the third row of seats of the Great Highlander are not thick, and the height of the cushion is relatively limited, if the backrest is not adjusted back, adults may also have the posture of sitting on a small bench, fortunately, the backrest can be greatly reclined, so that the pressure on the hips can also be relieved to a certain extent.
Looking at the performance of the three rows of seats alone, the Grand Highlander actually did not surprise me, but its advantages over the Highlander are not only in the seating space, but also in the trunk:
The picture shows at a glance, the depth of the trunk of the Greater Highlander is obviously much longer than that of the Highlander, and the headrests of the three-row seats in the standard state are much farther from the rear window than the Highlander, in addition to bringing generous backrest adjustment space, but also increasing the safety of three-row passengers in the face of rear-end collisions.
After the rear two rows of seats were put down, both the Grand Highlander and Highlander achieved a pure flat, of course, the space of the Greater Highlander was much larger, and the official data reached 2775 liters.
Overall, the third row of the Grand Highlander is not excellent, and it is difficult to say whether the space and comfort can surpass the Touan. But what is certain is that its space, comfort and storage capacity are much better than Highlander, and has reached a qualitative upgrade, and Highlander has been unable to meet the needs of customers before, and the Greater Highlander may really be suitable.
The design is more calm and atmospheric
The interior is more refined and advanced
Although named the Grand Highlander, the design of this car does not obviously borrow from the Highlander, and the lines of the whole body are significantly straighter and simpler. Toyota's new cars launched in recent years are generally more self-indulgent, and the big Highlander has a rare sense of returning to basics, compared to the Highlander, more calm and atmospheric of the big car, which should be the aesthetic taste of many people.
In terms of interior, although there are many common designs in the details, such as the shape of the steering wheel is almost identical, the Grand Highlander does not copy the layout of the Highlander, and the center console does not take a simple style, but the look and feel is obviously much cleaner than the Highlander, and the texture has an improvement that can be felt at a glance.
One of the most obvious treatments in the interior of the Greater Highlander is the treatment of gold decoration on the air conditioning vents, steering wheel buttons, both sides of the armrest, and even the gear lever and volume knob, which directly raises the texture to a notch compared to the silver trim of the Highlander. The little partner who is disappointed with the texture of the Highlander may be satisfied with the Great Highlander.
In addition to the space advantages of riding and storage, the big Highlander has also improved significantly in some small storage capabilities, such as the size and space of the armrest platform has increased a lot, and the storage slot on the center console in front of the co-pilot is also longer and wider, while the Grand Highlander also designed a Type-C interface next to it, so that the co-pilot can easily put the charging phone in the storage slot.
In addition, the Grand Highlander has a total of 7 charging ports, all designed in a very convenient position, even in the third row, it has also made a shape for the charging port to facilitate the use of passengers.
The specific functional configuration, we don't know much at present, can be sure that the American version of Highlander is equipped with seat heating and ventilation in the front and rear rows, and the JBL brand audio with 11 speakers is equipped above, as for more detailed configuration information, it can only wait until the introduction of domestic in the future.
Write at the end
The above is the main information we have learned about the Great Highlander, it can be seen that it has significantly improved in terms of design, space, texture, comfort and other aspects compared with the current Highlander, but there is no news about its price positioning overseas.
This car is basically determined to be introduced into China, what price do you think the domestic Grand Highlander will set, can it become a new benchmark for 7-seat SUVs?