Toyota's Latest Teaser Is Bad News For Anyone Who Thought We'd Get A New Truck

Toyota chose to show off a single shadowy teaser image last week, and it sent that teaser out in a press release that only contained the line, "Something new is on the horizon." At the time, that was all the information we had to go on, so pretty much any guess was just as valid as any other, but a lot of people seemed to think they were looking at a truck. Personally, I didn't agree, but I was at least open to the idea. At least until Toyota released the second teaser image that you see above, which all but confirms it's not a truck. 

Does it feel good to be right? Not really. No matter where it fit into the lineup, a new Toyota pickup truck would be much more exciting news than a three-row SUV, a minivan with more SUV-like styling, or whatever it is that we're actually looking at here. Maybe it'll be electric. Maybe it's just a hybrid. But whatever it is, family haulers just aren't as interesting as the possibility of a new Toyota truck that isn't a Tundra or Tacoma.

Don't worry, though, I just got off the phone with my doctor, and he assures me I will most likely survive.

If you just look at the second teaser image that Toyota released, I would argue it's pretty clear we're looking at a three-row SUV of some sort, but in case you aren't fully convinced, take a look at the same image after I played around with the brightness and contrast settings. That's 100% a third row. Maybe you can pick out a few other details that I missed, but hopefully, we can be done arguing over whether or not that's a third row of seats.

Still, the best we can do is guess at what we're looking at, since the press release barely even hints at what it is. The entirety of the press release was literally, "Big energy. Bigger versatility. A new adventure starts February 10th. #LetsGoPlaces." Could that mean it's electric? Sure. Could it easily be a hybrid? Of course. The mystery is half the fun. Or, if my suspicions about the driving dynamics prove to be correct, literally all the fun.

In the interest of having fun, though, I say let's swing for the fences. What if the "it's a truck" people and the "it's a three-row SUV" people are both right? What if we really are looking at a three-row family hauler that also has a truck bed? Trucks are popular. Three-row SUVs are popular. Clearly, the best solution is to combine the two and start printing buckets of money. 

Do I actually think that's what we're looking at here? Not one bit. But I bet it would be way more fun than a redesigned Highlander, an electric Highlander with a different name, or whatever it is that Toyota actually shows off on February 10.