Report from Aurion Launch

[Sapper]

Hi all,
Last night I was invited to the launch of the new Aurion by a friend of mine who works at Sydney City Toyota and I have good news.

Probably the first thing to mention is that although the toyota marketing department have no idea about the local large car market, the dealers understand that going against the Falcon and Commodore is going to be a difficult task. They're prepared to openly admit that.

First things first, there's not going to be an All Wheel Drive Aurion. The floor pan does not have a tunnel running to the rear wheels and modifying the platform for awd is very expensive.

The interor is okay, the plastics are about half cheap tinny plastics, half nice vinyl type plastics. There isn't as much room in the front or back as a falcon or commodore. Not even close. The head room isn't all that great either. I'm 5' 9" and my head was all but touching the roof in the back. By contrast, I have a friend who's 6' 5" and he has heaps of head room in the back of my AU. That said, the rear seats were surprisingly comportable. The front seats in all the models were about on par with the BA standard or cloth XR seats, copmaring the relevent models. The fit and finish is good (well, one car had a broken cup holder lid) but the interior is fairly drab.

As soon as I opened the boot i was told it was the biggest in its class. Ummm.....no. My AU boot is noticably bigger than the Aurion and the opening to the cabin, if you fold down the seats, is not much bigger than a large kitchen 'cutting up board.' The rear speakers are also substantially exposed to the boot and easily susceptible to damage.

The only real selling point I think it has is the transponder key that is proximity sensing and you can start the car with the key in your pocket.

Overall, I think that I shares about similar value as the Mitsubishi 380. Its more expensive than the 380 and proportionally better than it. The exterior styling is going to take some getting used to, so its not as good looking as any of its competitors. I didn't get to drive it unfortunately but my assessment so far is that unless you like trivial gadgets, it is by no means an improvement over the BFII or the VE.

Feel free to ask questions if you wish.

[Danny]

I reckon it looks very impressive, and I thought that my sentiments were shared by many. Try to look at things through less blue eyes.

[billij]

Did they have a Camry near any? Is it any bigger than a Camry?

[Dazza XLT]

But seriously, I will wait and see to pass judgement. Haven't seen one in the flesh yet.
Give it time!

Cheers

Darran

[XR Davo]

Originally Posted by billij

Did they have a Camry near any? Is it any bigger than a Camry?

It's same size as a Camry just restyled front and rear end. Doors are same as Camry. Looks to be a pretty good package I reckon, but probably won't appeal to performance buyers due to being FWD only.

[rodderz]

nice writup mate, the Camry isnt a bad car, nor is the 380. It's just that there a lot of people who want the image or features or power of a Ford or Holden on their car.

The remote keystart thing is basically a gimmick, it wouldnt bother me in the lightest whether I had that feature on a car or not. New cars aren't like the oldies where you have to let them sit for 5 mins with the choke out

[Sapper]

The thing is, its really not that big. What exactly defines it as being a large car? Are we taking it to be a large car just because a Toyota is a large car? I'm not anti Toyota, my last car was a Toyota and I didn't hate it. I still shake my head in disbelief at the punishment I gave that Corolla. But the Aurion really is surprisingly small. From all the hype that my mate and the media were delivering to me, I was expecting this massive leap forward over other large cars but to be honest, there's nothing about it that says 'this is really something special.'
At the end of the night I sat down with two of my mates, (both of them Toyota fans) and we agreed that the intention of the car was to be a Falcon/Commodore rival. We concluded between us that it was a 'better' Mitsubishi 380. I rate the 380 as a decent car. Not a class leader and we all agreed that the Aurion fits this description as well.
When you see it for yourself, tell me if it has something special that makes it a class leader.

[05MkIIFutura]

Originally Posted by hot xr6

As soon as I opened the boot i was told it was the biggest in its class. Ummm.....no. My AU boot is noticably bigger than the Aurion

Hate to break the news to you mate but your AU is no longer relevant as it is not the current model.

Thanks to the more complex Control Blade IRS, Barra Falcon's boot has shrunk marginally from 528 litres in the AU to 504 litres - but Falcon's luggage compartment still out-accommodates Commodore's 475-litre boot. The Aurion fits 504 litres, so technically they are "biggest in class"

[charles_wif_xf]

It's a Camry with a different snout and a$$. That said, I don't mind how the Aurion/Camry twins look.

[Quicklier]

Originally Posted by charles_wif_xf

It's a Camry with a different snout and a$$. That said, I don't mind how the Aurion/Camry twins look.

You're right. The different engine doesn't deserve a mention.

[Full Spectrum]

I don't mind the Aurion look, Actually the camry looks good, When it came from what it was it couldn't be seen too be ugly in anyway.
But in that drive test with the BF-VE-Aurion they commented the quality of the Aurion only matched the Falcommdores, That is a big surprise still thought they were all mighty in this area?. Or is it that the big Aussie's are now better in this area and Toyota have left the game open:P.

[Kryton]

i actually seen one of these on the road yesterday heading Warrnambool way and i also seen it on the way back from Melbourne. passed it in both directions.
it did look pretty good on the road from what i seen and the blue colour this was painted was very pleasing to the eye.

[RG]

I see these things everyday driving past work (I work opposite the Toyota factory) and I can honestly say that I am not that impressed by them. I think they really needed to have a more appealing car to sway people away from the falcon and commodore.

[XP6]

"I see these things everyday driving past work (I work opposite the Toyota factory) and I can honestly say that I am not that impressed by them. I think they really needed to have a more appealing car to sway people away from the falcon and commodore."

Yep plus we are aussie's and we like our big cars RWD!

[aualright]

Originally Posted by hot xr6

As soon as I opened the boot i was told it was the biggest in its class.

Maybe they keep getting confused as to whether they class it as a medium or large car? Sometimes I hear it is classed large car, other times a medium. I'm confused, maybe Toyota are too?

****

[aualright]

Originally Posted by charles_wif_xf

It's a Camry with a different snout and a$$. That said, I don't mind how the Aurion/Camry twins look.

I read that Toyota snapped up Ford's young designer of the year to design the front and back. The article mentioned that the headlight treatment was similar to the BA XR, although I personally see a greater comparison between the VE frontend and the BA XR which WASN'T mentioned.

****

[merlin]

Originally Posted by aualright

I read that Toyota snapped up Ford's young designer of the year to design the front and back. The article mentioned that the headlight treatment was similar to the BA XR, although I personally see a greater comparison between the VE frontend and the BA XR which WASN'T mentioned.

****

I think his name is Nick Hogias and he was responsible for the BA XR styling. That is probabyl why so many Ford fans think the Aurion looks good. Same guy designed both.

[uranium_death]

The Aurion is a good car in its own respects.
But Toyota will struggle to fit in a large car into the family car market. Holden and Ford have had 40-50 years to perfect their cars (which is a never-ending cycle) while Toyota have come from another country where vehicles are a completely different size and style.

The Aurion will be a good learning tool for Toyota as I think it will still sell ok. Better than the Avalon at least. Hell, the Capri, Leyland Lemon and Datsun 120Y sold better than the Avalon.

The design is interesting and the interiors still need work, but I think you'll find that mechanically it will be pretty sound for the price you pay.

[4.9 EF Futura]

Hey that's a really good write up. Was puzzled about the comment regarding their marketers tho?

Would toyota australia marketers not be australian based? I would have thought they'd know the market down to the infinite details. Problem being, they're not being given the car they need to sell to us aussies, rather are trying to tailor a marketing approach to get us to buy it. i.e. marketing from a brand perspective, not marketing at a product level.

Dont toyota consistently sell more cars than both Ford and Holden? Sounds to me like Ford and Holden need to take notes from Toyota's marketing dept.

[05MkIIFutura]

Originally Posted by uranium_death

But Toyota will struggle to fit in a large car into the family car market. Holden and Ford have had 40-50 years to perfect their cars (which is a never-ending cycle) while Toyota have come from another country where vehicles are a completely different size and style.

Ha ha ha ha thats funny!!! Oh what goes on in some peoples minds

[WayneHadfield]

Originally Posted by 05MkIIFutura

Ha ha ha ha thats funny!!! Oh what goes on in some peoples minds

Ah yes....Toyota have been here a long time.

I've only seen a few around. I'll wait to make up my mind if I ever drive one. Seeing as the 380 (when released new) was compared a bit more favourably then the Camry (the older model) and even the Mazda 6 got a better wrap than the new Camry, I wouldn't expect much more out of the Aurion (ironically, a name used to instill some sense of Australia...but also the name of a Japanese manga character!).

This "large car" thing perplexes me too...if Camry and Aurion are effectively the same architecture, then isn't a Camry a "large car" just like the Aurion is supposed to be?

[GK]

The best thing the Aurion has going for it is the first 2 letters of the name!

AU! LOL! :

GK

[GK]

Originally Posted by 05MkIIFutura

Hate to break the news to you mate but your AU is no longer relevant as it is not the current model.

I Disagree. It's his current car and that's what he's comparing it to.

But of course I am favourably biased towards the good old AU, I have 2! :hihi:

GK

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by aualright

Maybe they keep getting confused as to whether they class it as a medium or large car? Sometimes I hear it is classed large car, other times a medium. I'm confused, maybe Toyota are too?

****

If its a 4 cylinder Camry, its a medium car, with a V6 and called Aurion its a large car, even though the length, width, height and wheelbase are the same between the 2. Figure that out. : Seems like Toyota will label it whatever they feel like.

[murcod]

Originally Posted by ST170ish

Yep plus we are aussie's and we like our big cars RWD!

Are you aware that for PRIVATE new car sales the Toyota Corolla is usually the sales winner? That's smaller and FWD! ;)

Big cars sales are really falling by the wayside, so perhaps the Aurion being a bit smaller is a good move?

I notice the usual front wheel drive handling phobia mentioned too : ! Yes, ultimately RWD or AWD is the best for a performance car (ie. Ferrari's, Veyron, Lamborghini's etc.), but the fact is for the affordable cars we all buy a lot of front wheel drives will run rings around similarly priced Aussie rear wheel drives! Yes, higher powered FWD's can have issues- and I'm in no way saying the Aurion is a good handler as I haven't driven one.

BTW even my wife's Mazda 6 sedan has a 506 litre boot- so what the hell are they doing to boot space in the large car segment?!? Is it really necessary to buy such big cars these days for the average family with 1.x children and no large boat to tow?

[McobraR]

Saw an Aurion about 2-3 weeks ago, Sportivo version. I dont kno... looks too conservative compared with the camry, and doesn't seem to have as much design flare.

[uranium_death]

Originally Posted by McobraR

Saw an Aurion about 2-3 weeks ago, Sportivo version. I dont kno... looks too conservative compared with the camry, and doesn't seem to have as much design flare.

Explanation: It's a Toyota!

[Lagom]

Originally Posted by uranium_death

Explanation: It's a Toyota!

Whose exterior was designed by the guy that did the Falcon XR...

[uranium_death]

Originally Posted by Lagom

Whose exterior was designed by the guy that did the Falcon XR...

BUT the XR looks good.

[blutura]

Geez U.D. give it a rest already! You don't like Toyota's. WE GET IT!