Yahoo Autos Toyota Grand Highlander Could Be a Bigger Three-Row SUV
Toyota recently trademarked a new name: Grand Highlander, as first seen on a forum post.
This moniker seems to suggest a larger variant of the existing Highlander three-row SUV.
The Highlander was redesigned for 2020, so the Grand Highlander may arrive for the mid-cycle refresh a few years from now.
Toyota is apparently envious of Jeep's Grand-iosity and may add a new model called the Grand Highlander, following in the footsteps of the Grand Cherokee and Grand Wagoneer. The company filed for a trademark on December 28, 2020, and the name indicates that it will be a bigger version of the Highlander SUV.
The Highlander currently competes in the three-row mid-size SUV segment, but its third row of seats is notably less spacious than competitors such as the Kia Telluride, Volkswagen Atlas, and Chevy Traverse. A Grand Highlander, possibly with an extended wheelbase, could help fix this shortcoming. Size-wise, it would slot in between the Highlander and the full-size, body-on-frame Sequoia, and it would likely cost a few thousand dollars more than the Highlander.
Toyota has yet to confirm anything about such a model, but we think it could arrive as soon as the Highlander's mid-cycle refresh, which should come for the 2023 or 2024 model year given that the current model debuted for 2020. Mechanically it would likely share its 3.5-liter V-6 and hybrid drivetrains with the standard; a plug-in-hybrid Grand Highlander Prime also seems possible.
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