Lexington, KY – The first production 2013 Toyota Avalons will be celebrated Tuesday afternoon where they’re exclusively made in Georgetown. The latest redesign of the Avalon gives Toyota’s top-of-the-line sedan a sleek new appeal, as well as an option for a hybrid model.
Keen observers may have seen the new Avalon, or at least its prototype, driving around Central Kentucky in recent months. Wil James, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, took one of the prototype models to a meeting of the Bluegrass Economic Advancement Movement (BEAM) board in Frankfort in June.
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The black Avalon James drove was marked as a “Limited” model, the highest trim-level available on the current year Avalon. The 2012 model is also available in the base trim. A white Avalon was seen on New Circle Road Sunday afternoon marked with an XLE badge, the highest trim-level available on the Camry. The Sienna minivan has both XLE and Limited models, with the XLE being a step below the Limited.
The new features of the Avalon and what trim-levels they’ll be sold with should be revealed Tuesday afternoon at an event featuring James, Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing, North America, Executive Vice President Steve St. Angelo, Group Vice President & General Manager of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Bill Fay, Gov. Steve Beshear and UK Basketball Coach John Calipari.
According to a release from Toyota, the 2013 Avalon is North American designed and engineered. It features improved dynamic performance, a greater degree of refinement, and a highly spacious, comfortable interior experience with an abundance of outstanding convenience technologies.
It comes with an available V-6 engine, or for the first time, Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive, making it the first full-hybrid in the premium mid-size segment with an expected 40-mpg combined EPA-rating. The Hybrid Synergy Drive has been available on the Camry – also made in Georgetown – since the 2007 model year.