Rumor: 4th-gen Toyota Harrier to expand to new markets as ‘Venza’

The updated SUV should arrive later this year, and unofficial sources claim that it will expand its sales geography dramatically compared to the previous generation.

The Toyota Harrier had originally been the Japanese domestic market counterpart of the Lexus RX. However, the latest generation, which debuted in 2013, switched to the architecture of the more affordable RAV4. It went through a minor facelift in 2017 (shown in the gallery and the video), and will switch to a new generation later this year.

The crossover will retain its typical Toyota look and will once again share the tech platform with the RAV4 – but the company says it means the TNGA-K platform of the new RAV4, rather than the old one.

The current-gen Harrier is longer than the RAV4 despite having a marginally shorter wheelbase. The new model is expected to grow larger in terms of both length and wheelbase. Additionally, while the latest RAV4 can only accommodate five people at most, the new Harrier could get a seven-seater version.

The engine range will also be borrowed from the RAV4 line, which means a choice between a 2.0-liter non-turbo and a 2.5-liter hybrid. That said, rumor has it that the Harrier might additionally ship with a new 2.0-liter turbocharged engine that its technical sibling lacks.

As for the international availability of the 2020 Toyota Harrier, sources say it will come to China and North America, where it will sell under the name Toyota Venza. The Japanese automaker used to produce an SUV with that name in 2008-2015 and mentioned last fall that it wanted to resurrect the Venza brand name.