In 2014, following the unveiling of the FT-1 Concept, Toyota chief executive Akio Toyoda said the car manufacturer would no longer build “boring cars”.
At the time, it all seem a little far-fetched and while you could argue some of the carmaker’s current models aren’t particularly exciting to drive, there’s no doubt Toyota’s design language has progressed massively. It now produces some of the most conspicuous cars on the market, and one of these is the 2021 Sienna.
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In times gone by, minivans were bland and uninspired, but the 2021 Sienna has a very bold design that Toyota says was actually influenced by SUVs and Japan’s bullet trains. In this video from Toyota USA, the president of Toyota Motor Corporation’s North American design studio Kevin Hunter talks us through the striking design of the new Sienna.
Hunter says the company set out to create a new Sienna that was “cooler, sexier, fun, [and] active” and we think it has done just that. The front, for example, is especially eye-catching thanks to the large grille and sharp headlights. The sides also have very pronounced creases and curves that flow nicely into a rear end complete with taillights, not dissimilar in shape to those of the Lexus LS 500.
In the United States, the 2021 Sienna is sold exclusively with the Toyota Hybrid System II powertrain that combines a 2.5-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine with two electric motors. It delivers 243 hp and returns a manufacturer-estimated 33 mpg (7.1 l/100 km) over the combined cycle.