DETROIT - Toyota wanted its new Camry-based Venza to run for Motor Trend's 2009 Car of the Year. Senior editor Ron Kiino compared its ground clearance numbers with other crossovers, and in the end, we Truck Trend editors decided it should compete for this year's Sport/Utility of the Year. Because Toyota wouldn't agree to that, the Venza did not compete at all.
Toyota won't take this disagreement sitting down. It figures the SUV craze is pretty much over, whether gas is $4.25 per gallon or $2.89 per gallon. Sales are sliding, when compared with cars, for the huge and growing fleet of crossovers, including Toyota's own three-row Highlanders and RAV4s.
So Toyota will lower the Venza for 2010, only its second model year. (It goes on sale before the end of '08 as an '09 model.) Based on the Camry sedan, but with some Highlander parts, the Venza's 8.1-inch ground clearance tops the Infiniti EX's (5.7 to 6.5 inches), the Chevy Traverse's (7.2 inches) and the VW Tiguan's (6.9).
It won't be enough to make the Venza a car. The '10 model will be lowered about 0.8 inches, so at 7.3, its ground clearance remains in SUV territory. Toyota figures it will give the crossover a more car-like appearance, making it a kind of modern wagon or large d-segment hatchback, two identifiers that haven't moved much metal in the U.S. recently.
Toyota may do this only with the front-wheel-drive version of the Venza, as the AWD's hardware may be hard to package at a lower ride height. Even if it's just the FWD version, that's likely to make up a majority of Venza sales. Chevrolet expects to sell about 65 percent of its new Traverses with FWD, for example. But then, Chevy isn't trying to pass off the Traverse as a car.
To the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the '10 Venza will still be a truck -- it doesn't need to meet all eight of NHTSA's criteria to be grouped in with other trucks for Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards. Remember, Chrysler got both the PT Cruiser and Dodge Magnum classified as trucks, thanks largely to their flat load floors, to help balance out Hemi Rams and Durangos for CAFE. Optional rear privacy glass is the telltale sign.
Do you think this ploy will help Toyota move the Venza as a car? I don't. It still quacks just like a crossover sport/utility vehicle.