NEW YORK MOTOR SHOW: Toyota large sedan concept

Only a teaser sketch of the back end of this new Toyota concept has been revealed, but it has sent media outlets into a frenzy of speculation, particularly in the USA, where the suggestion is that this vehicle is our first look at a new-generation Toyota Avalon.

However Toyota Australia’s Manager, Public Relations, Mike Breen, told motoring.com.au this is not the case, "However we understand some publications have been speculating on this."

Breen did hint that the new concept wasn’t created just to sate the wildest fantasies of its designers, and could indeed be the precursor of an all-new global model from the world’s second largest car maker.

"Toyota has many design centres around the world, including Australia, each working collaboratively to predict, as best they can, future design trends. The primary purpose of a 'concept' car is to use the feedback from the media and consumers to confirm the company's future design direction," said Breen. "The outcome is to provide a design which will appeal to a global market."

So all eyes will be on the New York Motor Show next week when the concept breaks cover, and though likely to be less extravagant than the teaser sketch, the Toyota show car may have taken a leaf out of the Kia design book (which in turn took some of its cues from Audi). The concept will feature a smoothly sloped rear end that looks more like an Audi A7 or a Mercedes CLS-Class than a traditional Toyota sedan.

The company calls the new styling "elegant yet athletic".

If Toyota did decide to build a new global model in the next half decade, roughly the size of a Holden Caprice, Breen said it would be too early to say if such a vehicle would arrive Down Under: "We have insufficient information to provide an informed opinion."

"There is no suggestion this model, if it were to reach production, would be considered for the Australian market," Breen elucidated.