The 2015 version of the Toyota Avensis has received the most comprehensive facelift of any of the company's models yet. The updated model goes on sale in the UK this summer.
A spokesman confirmed that the company has invested more in this model year change than in any other mid-life facelift. The previous biggest investment was in the 2014 change to the Toyota Yaris.
The revised Avensis comes with a refreshed interior and a reworked chassis, along with changes to the exterior. The car made its public debut at the Geneva motor show in March.
The front end is brought into line with the rest of the restyled Toyota range, with new LED headlights, front bumper and bonnet and a chrome bar running across the front. The rear also gets new LED headlights, while the car has been stretched overall by 40mm.
There are also changes to the Avensis's chassis to improve ride and handling, while insulation levels have been upped to lower the amount of noise and vibration comes into the cabin.
There are also two new diesel engines that are added to the range, with a new 1.6-litre D-4D and a 2.0-litre D-4D.
The new 1.6-litre, which replaces the older 2.0-litre diesel and has been sourced from BMW, and is 20kg lighter than the old unit. It gets from 0-62mph in 11.4 seconds and has a 112mph top speed. CO2 emissions are 108g/km, while fuel economy is 68.9mpg. The new 2.0-litre diesel has an average fuel consumption of 62.8mpg and emits 119g/km of CO2.
The new 2.0-litre diesel, which replaces the current 2.2-litre option and has also been supplied from BMW, produces 141bhp and 236lb ft. With this engine, the Avensis can get to 62mph in 9.5 seconds, while CO2 emissions stand at 119g/km.
The petrol engines have also been tweaked, with reductions in CO2 emissions ranging from 8g/km to 19g/km. In particular, the Avensis' current 1.8-litre engine is now Euro 6 compliant.
Toyota has not yet revealed the full UK specification, but says it will come with a 'clearly differentiated grade structure' that will appeal to both private and company buyers.
The Avensis is available in Active, Business Edition, Business Edition+ and Excel specifications, with Toyota's 'safety sense' suite of active safety technology coming as standard.
Prices for the facelifted Avensis start at £17,765 for an entry-level model, rising to £28,440 for a top-spec version in Sports Tourer guise.
The Avensis was styled by the company's design team in the south of France and will be built at Toyota's UK plant at Burnaston, near Derby.
Get the latest car news, reviews and galleries from Autocar direct to your inbox every week. Enter your email address below:
Join the debate
Add your comment
Avensis has been held back by
I quite like the styling
A lot better
At least Toyota is making the cars look different with the redesign, something that cannot be said for Audi where the new TT looks like the old one, the new A3 looks like the old one etc etc.
Mind you the Audi's are better looking to start off with, but they are so common now and so many versions of the same looks, they are becoming bland also...