At the 2008 Paris Motor Show, Toyota lifted the wraps off the third generation Avensis, which went on sale across Europe in both four-door sedan and station wagon formats in January of 2009.
Even though Toyota's proposal in Europe's highly-competitive mid-size segment has only been in the market for less than three years, the Japanese carmaker has apparently decided to give the Avensis a mid-life facelift to help bolster its position in market.
And while Toyota was evidently trying to keep its plans on the refreshed Avensis under secrecy, a reader of the Dutch car magazine Autoweek stumbled upon two completely undisguised models and made good use of his camera.
The pictures show that both the sedan and station wagon variants of the 2012 Avensis gain a new front fascia that bring it line with Toyota's latest models such as the Yaris and the upcoming FT-86. Aside from the new front grille, the refreshed Avensis gets reshaped headlamps and a redesigned bumper.
The styling tweaks continue at the rear end with the restyled tail lamps and the new bumper. If you head over to Autoweek, you'll find a few more pictures including one of the interior, though we couldn't manage to spot any changes inside due to the poor quality of the image.
We're still waiting for Toyota to issue a press statement about its plans for the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, but chances are the 2012 Avensis will be among the cars to debut at the German show.
Even though Toyota's proposal in Europe's highly-competitive mid-size segment has only been in the market for less than three years, the Japanese carmaker has apparently decided to give the Avensis a mid-life facelift to help bolster its position in market.
And while Toyota was evidently trying to keep its plans on the refreshed Avensis under secrecy, a reader of the Dutch car magazine Autoweek stumbled upon two completely undisguised models and made good use of his camera.
The pictures show that both the sedan and station wagon variants of the 2012 Avensis gain a new front fascia that bring it line with Toyota's latest models such as the Yaris and the upcoming FT-86. Aside from the new front grille, the refreshed Avensis gets reshaped headlamps and a redesigned bumper.
The styling tweaks continue at the rear end with the restyled tail lamps and the new bumper. If you head over to Autoweek, you'll find a few more pictures including one of the interior, though we couldn't manage to spot any changes inside due to the poor quality of the image.
We're still waiting for Toyota to issue a press statement about its plans for the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, but chances are the 2012 Avensis will be among the cars to debut at the German show.
PHOTO GALLERY