Toyota decided to retire the Carina nameplate and introduced the Avensis in 1997 in three shapes: sedan, hatchback, and station wagon.
Since its sales started to rise in Europe, Toyota decided to build a vehicle tailored for European customers. Its competition was tough, and it had to fight its way up against Opel, Vauxhall, Peugeot, Renault, or Volkswagen. To succeed, it had come with a better-designed vehicle since the Carina was too bland for Europeans’ taste.

Some could say that the Avensis’ headlights somehow resemble those installed on the third generation of the BMW 3-Series (the E36), with its dual lamps under a clear glass design. Of course, speculations followed, but the customers couldn’t care less than that. The small, short grille with horizontal slats was extended on the lower side of the bumper with additional cooling areas and air-intakes. In the station wagon shape, the car featured a more extended roof over the trunk area and a slightly tilted forward tailgate at the back.

Inside, Toyota insisted on having a high building quality, and it achieved that. Even though some European carmakers could match the same fittings, most of them lacked behind, especially the middle and premium brands. Still, it offered good upholstery options and a long list of standard features. The split-folding rear bench increased the trunk space of the Avensis Wagon from 580 liters (20.5 cu-ft) to 1,996 liters (70.5 cu-ft).

Under the hood, the Japanese carmaker installed a choice of five engines paired to a five-speed manual gearbox. For specific markets and engines, Toyota offered a 4-speed automatic transmission.