WAIMEA, Hawaii — Toyota North American brand head Dave Christ is fully prepared if the sales of his current top-selling three-row crossover, the Highlander, decline next year.
Any losses, Toyota’s group vice president said, will be more than made up by customers moving up to the larger 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander or coming back to the brand because it now has a comfortable non-minivan option for growing families.
“We do expect some cannibalization, people that may have bought a Highlander in the past,” Christ told Automotive News here during a media drive. “I’m a great example. I have three kids; the youngest one is just now getting out of a car seat, and my oldest is five-foot-five with shoes as big as mine. Putting him in the third row of a Highlander was a little tight.”
Arriving in dealerships this summer, the 2024 Grand Highlander is 2 inches wider, 2 inches taller and — most important — 6 inches longer than the current three-row Toyota Highlander, with the additional room aimed squarely at making the rear seating of the eight-person people-hauler more comfortable.
