Grand Highlander Coming Soon As Toyota Files Trademark Patent

On the latter days of 2020, December 28th to be precise, Toyota filed a patent for the Grand Highlander name with the US Patent and Trademark Office. This comes as a surprise as Toyota hasn’t had a “Grand” model in its lineup before so what prompted this? Well, there’s only one explanation for this which is popular demand. The Highlander is one of the brands top-selling SUV and has been tagged a 7-seat vehicle. But the 3rd-row seat is among the least comfortable in its class and when that is in place, there’s no boot space. Buyers complained about this so Toyota has responded with this upcoming model.

There’s no information on when the Grand Highlander will be released as no spy photos of any sorts. In addition, the Highlander is still new as it’s just a year old with updated models still years away. It’s now a common thing for manufacturers to file patent and trademarks in order to protect ideas. With that in mind, the Grand Highlander will definitely be costlier than the regular model and with the Land Cruiser being discontinued, it may be the only true 7-seat SUV of Toyota in the US. This is a welcome development by the Japanese brand as it will further cement its place with its rivals.

The current Highlander is powered by a 3.5-litre V6 or a 2.5-litre inline-4 Hybrid. It comes with an 8-speed automatic or an eCVT gearbox (Hybrid). Front-wheel drive is standard while all-wheel drive is optional.

• Also See: 2021 Toyota Highlander Gets A Surprising XSE Trim (Photos)