Toyota making play for millennial market
FT-4X aimed at urban dwellers
NEW YORK - In a relatively brazen play for millennial love, Japanese automaker Toyota revealed a spunky new crossover concept Wednesday at the New York Auto Show.
Toyota unveiled the FT-4X concept, aimed at burnishing the company’s image among young urban dwellers with an occasional taste for adventure.
The vehicle’s reveal comes as Toyota is aiming to rejuvenate its lineup with new crossover options.
The company’s designers in Newport Beach, Calif., envisioned the chirpy fourwheel-drive FT-4X concept as fit for “outings by anyone, anytime” at the spur of the moment, Toyota said.
But it’s especially aimed at millennials, otherwise known as Generation Y, or what Toyota described as young professionals who “are fond of the outdoors but operate almost always indoors.” This group would typically “enjoy venturing into new neighborhoods and national parks, but hardly plan ahead.”
The concept’s name de-
rives from the phrase Future Toyota and would be built using the company’s new global vehicle architecture, which is designed to speed product development and enable flexible design.
The crossover gets removable window glass for enhanced configurability and styling. It incorporates a GoPro camera mounted on the rearview mirror, and the horizontal layout of its grille, headlights and bumper pays homage to the FJ Land Cruiser and pickups of years gone by.
Make no mistake — this isn’t geared toward off-roaders. It’s for driving to the beach instead of on the beach and parking next to the trail instead of traversing the trail.
There’s connectivity, too, with USB outlets built into the armrests.
But in one design decision that bucks the traditional technological trend, the FT-4X does not get a navigation touch screen. Instead, it comes with a phone mount in a recognition that millennials often use their devices for directions instead of a car’s built-in system.
Toyota wasn’t the only automaker to introduce a new vehicle at the New York show. Among other buzz-worthy new cars and trucks at the show:
Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk: Call Fiat Chrysler nutty, but it’s putting the 6.2-liter, 707horsepower V8 engine from the Charger and Challenger Hellcat muscle cars into a Jeep Grand Cherokee called the Trackhawk. The company says it’s the most powerful and quickest SUV ever built with a zero-to-60 mph time of 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 180 mph.
Dodge Demon SRT Challenger: The Fiat Chrysler brand is laying claim to the fastest production car in the U.S. The Demon Challenger is a fast 840-horsepower gasoline burner. It can go from zero to 60 in 2.3 seconds. The Demon also can hit 140 mph while running a quarter mile in 9.65 seconds, about two seconds faster than a typical muscle car. It’s available in the fall.
Subaru Ascent: The Ascent SUV concept, a three-row people hauler, is supposedly close to the final product that goes on sale next year. The sevenpassenger SUV looks like a big version of Subaru’s highly successful Outback wagon. It’ll get a turbocharged engine and sporty fender flares. The new vehicle should help Subaru continue its string of annual sales increases. Last year sales rose nearly 6% to just under 583,000.
Honda Clarity: The Clarity fuel cell version is already available for lease in California. It has a range up to 366 miles, which helps considering hydrogen fueling stations aren’t yet plentiful. The all-electric and plug-in hybrid versions debuted at the New York auto show. Both seat five adults.
Lincoln Navigator: Ford gives the new Lincoln Navigator an all-aluminum body and the big luxury SUV sheds 200 pounds. The look is more subtle elegance, designed to attract buyers from the more showy Cadillac Escalade. The new Navigator gets a 3.5-liter twinturbo V6 that puts out 450 horsepower. It is due out late this year.
Buick Enclave: General Motors has given the seven-passenger midsize utility more third-row seating space, improved towing capacity and a tighter turning radius than the outgoing model. A 3.6-liter, 302 horsepower V6 engine and a ninespeed automatic transmission are standard. The motor shuts off at red lights to conserve fuel and instantly restarts when the light turns green.