Toyota Goes Against Tradition - Will Unveil Stunning Sedan

The U.S.-designed sedan will have its global premiere in the Galleria room within the Jacob Javits Center at 10:30 a.m. EDT on April 5, 2012 as part of the 2012 New York International Auto Show media days. Hopefully it's second-day slot isn't as inauspicious as it seems.

One Toyota insider, off the record, is projecting excitement about this sedan. It's already being suggested for design awards in spite of the fact it does not go on sale until later this year.

Toyota is being coy about what the new sedan will look like. All it would say in the media advisory is "The sedan’s exciting new design features an elegant yet athletic look."

From the teaser photo released with advisory, it looks like this new Toyota borrows heavily from the Jaguar XF, which is a good inspirational starting point. The new Toyota sedan, currently unnamed (at least outside of Toyota) has elegant five-spoke wheels that are shod in performance tires.

Media and the public will have the opportunity to participate in a live-streaming video chat with the designers of the new sedan by submitting questions via Twitter and Facebook with the #ToyotaDesign hashtag. The Toyota Design Live chat is scheduled for 2 p.m. EDT on April 5, 2012 and hosted on http://www.facebook.com/toyota.

Toyota needs a winner in the design department. Its Lexus and Scion divisions have introduced some design winners recently including the Lexus GS and the Scion FR-S. Heck, even the Scion iQ is compelling in its own special way.