Facelifted Toyota Avensis & Auris Coming to Geneva

Toyota will bring a pair of new models to the 2015 Geneva Motor Show next month, and we finally have official preview images for both of them. They will be the 2015 Toyota Avensis and the 2015 Toyota Auris.

2015 Toyota Avensis

Toyota originally gave us a preview for the new Avensis about a week ahead of their Auris preview. From the image above, we can see the Toyota plans to bring both saloon and estate variants of the Avensis to the show.

Toyota is ramping up the aggression on this and new Avensis model. It has a slightly thinner grille, losing the extra horizontal bars in favor of some sizeable front air vents and a more clean-cut lower grille. The headlight design has also been refined too look like inward pointing V’s instead of plain downward slants.

In addition to the new front-end design, the 2015 Toyota Avensis will get “a new range of engines that promise both performance and efficiency.” We’re guessing that means a hybrid powertrain will be offered to catch up with the Auris (more on that below), but we’ll have to wait until Geneva to know for sure.

Same with the interior and rear-end design… We know there will be improvements, we just don’t know what they are yet.

Interestingly, this will be the second time Toyota has facelifted the third-generation Avensis since 2009. Toyota is rumored to axe the Avensis by the end of the decade, so this could be the last new Avensis we see for awhile.

2015 Toyota Auris

The Avensis’ smaller C-segment brother will receive a similar update at Geneva. And just like the Avensis, both the normal Auris and the Auris Touring Sport will be shown in facelifted form at the event.

Aesthetic changes to the Auris are similar to those of the Avensis. The grille has been slimmed down, and the headlights have been reshaped accordingly. However, there are no new air vents; instead the lower grille cleanly spans the distance between the fog lights.

Unlike the Avensis, Toyota is much more straightforward about their plans for the Auris’ powertrains. They say that the hybrid will remain at the heart of the range, as the Auris Hybrid apparently accounted for half of all Auris sales in 2014. However, a new, more efficient and sportier petrol AND diesel have been confirmed, although we don’t have any hard specs.

Either way, Toyota tells us that together, the new Auris and Avensis are intended to follow-up on the introduction of the new Aygo and Yaris at last year’s event and form the core of Toyota’s European model range. All of the cars will continue to be built at Toyota Manufacturing UK’s Burnaston plant.

Stay tuned for the full reveal of both vehicles at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show on March 3.