Toyota Avalon

The Toyota Avalon is a full-size car produced by Toyota in the United States, and is the flagship sedan of Toyota in the United States, Canada, and the Middle East. It was also produced in Australia until July 2005; it was replaced in November 2006 by the Toyota Aurion. It is a front-wheel drive four-door sedan. The first Toyota Avalon rolled off the assembly line in Georgetown, Kentucky on February 21, 1994 as a 1995 model. A second-generation model was released in the United States and Japan in 1999. In 2000, the Toyota Avalon was the first Toyota model to feature a non-touch screen navigation system.

The Avalon filled the gap left by the cancellation of the Toyota Cressida in the American market in 1992. While the Cressida was an upper-level midsize rear-wheel drive car with a straight-6 engine, the Avalon is front-wheel drive, powered by a V6 engine. (The Toyota Camry, which was slotted below the Cressida and Avalon, was initially a compact, but later was stretched to midsize; hence, the Avalon was introduced as a large car.)