Room for Rumion?

It's no Celica or Supra but some Toyota Australia execs think this rather block-like five-door could be just the thing to 'funk up' the number one carmaker's line-up Down Under.

Dubbed the Rumion and currently a Japan-only model, the square-rigged small to medium wagon is built on the Corolla platform. Though powered by a 1.6-litre four in the domestic market, a 2.4-litre engine would happily fit, Toyota insiders say.

It's Toyota's product planning chief Doug Soden's contention that multi-purpose (but far from generic) vehicles like the Rumion have potentially usurped the role once filled by coupes like Toyota's iconic Celica. Though buyers are no less style conscious in 2007, they are looking for more practicality in their 'statement' vehicles than a swoopy two-door can deliver.

Soden says Generation Y is emerging as a whole new type of car buyer -- one that's happy to reward itself with a car but one that they might own for less than two years. He also thinks Rumion could be their sort of car.

"They justify [their purchase] very easily. What are we offering them in the place of the run-of-the-mill car?"

"Look at it in the States, Japan and Europe. Look at how fragmented the level two sort of Corolla -- say in $25-$30K price bracket -- market has become. You no longer get millions of people just going out and buying the higher grade of the run-of-the-mill car. They want something funky," Soden opined.

"Scion is a very strong example of that [in the USA]. Types of vehicle, like the Rumion, that sort of vehicle, the buyers are like: 'That's cool.'

"A really good [local] example is people buying a purple Commodore Ute. You and I think 'you lunatic' that colour's going to be very outdated in two or three years -- but to them it's not an issue. It's the same with [new types of] cars and styles -- they're not thinking along those lines. It's interesting to watch it. It's going to happen in Australia -- in fact it's starting to happen in Australia."

Soden says there's now room for Toyota to move with sub-brands for example, and that's where Rumion could come into the picture.

"We're certainly looking at where we can go and what we can do. What can we pull out of the hat."

The recently launched performance brand, TRD, is an example, Soden says.

"Australians are very practical people. [But] Our RAV4 buyers are cross-shopping everything from an MX-5 to a Holden ute! Now the manufacturers are going: well, I have a Corolla platform -- I'll put a different body on it [and see what the market says]…"

And that's where the Rumion comes in. There was enough focus on the vehicle at the show (from Toyota's Australian contingent) to suggest there's more than a passing interest in adding it to the local mix.

Interested? Do you love it, or loathe it? As they say in the classics: speak now or forever hold your peace...