Torrance, California – Toyota has posted a “time-lapse sketch” of its new 2009 Venza crossover vehicle, which is scheduled to go on sale later this year.

“We wanted to create something entirely different,” said Kevin Hunter, president of Toyota’s Calty Design Research in Newport Beach, California. “Not an SUV, not a wagon, not a coupe and not a sedan. We aimed for a more road-focused vehicle and sporty direction.”

The Venza is based on the FT-SX concept that debuted at the 2005 Detroit Auto Show.  With overwhelmingly positive response to the show vehicle, Toyota decided to develop Venza with a distinctly American plan. It was one of the first times an American styling group created an overall design concept that engineers would follow for development. The new model will be built alongside the Camry, Solara and Avalon at Toyota Motor Manufacturing in Kentucky, with 70 per cent of its components coming from North American suppliers.

The Venza design sketch video is available at YouTube.