Welcome to the Hooniverse News! As always, this is a weekly recap of the biggest stories in the automotive industry without the fluff or bull. This week: the 2023 Toyota Sequoia breaks cover, Chevrolet celebrates 70 years of the Corvette with badges and paint, Kia prices their EV6 very competitively, and Ford is no longer accepting Maverick orders because it’s too popular.

2023 Toyota Sequoia

It’s that time of the decade when Toyota runs through their full size vehicles and gives them some much-needed love. We’ve been teased by a new Land Cruiser that we aren’t getting and cursed by a new Tundra that we maybe wish didn’t look the way it does, but now it’s the Sequoia’s turn. The venerable three-row SUV gets the third generation it deserves with many of the same upgrades we’ve seen from the Tundra. Which isn’t surprising seeing as the Sequoia has always been built on the bones of the Tundra and shared many of its styling features.

For the 2023 Sequoia, that means a new body-on-frame chassis with a fully boxed frame that shares architecture with the new Tundra and Land Cruiser. The benefits of this will be improved handling, comfort, and capability. It also gets some more power to play with thanks to the now familiar twin-turbocharged V6 hybrid unit with 437 horsepower and 583 lb.-ft. of torque with power being sent through a 10-speed automatic. 2WD and 4WD is available on most grades (SR5, Limited, Platinum, and Capstone), but the more hardcore TRD Pro trim mandates 4WD. Its ride quality will be improved further with an independent front and multi-link rear suspension with available Load-Leveling Rear Ride Height Control Air Suspension and Adaptive Variable Suspension. The TRD Sport and TRD Pro models take it a step further with more off-road-oriented shocks from Bilstein or FOX (respectively) along with a host of other upgrades like skid plates, unique drive modes for all types of terrain, and beefier tires.

Towing may not be the first thing Sequoia buyers have in mind, but this new model can do up to 9,000 pounds of that. That’s a 22% increase over the previous generation. And it’ll be easier than ever with an available Tow Tech Package which adds some towing assistance features from the Tundra.

Styling-wise there’s a lot of Tundra influence here too. Again not surprising, but what is surprising is that it actually seems to pull it off. The most offensive parts of the Tundra are its big gaping maw and the odd sculpting on the bed. The Sequoia gets a relatively normal-sized grille which doesn’t extend all the way down to the road and body sculpting that doesn’t look so out of place. I’ll let you determine whether it’s pretty. An upgrade that’s undeniable is its interior which is also borrowing heavily from the Tundra. Standard SR5 interior features include a moonroof, heated seats, a 12.3″ digital instrument display, and Panoramic View Monitor. A 14″ Toyota Audio Multimedia display, power third row, and hands-free liftgate are available with the Premium package, and the features go much further from there.

There’s a lot that this Sequoia has to offer across its different grades. It can be a family hauler with some good off road capability or just be a luxurious land yacht. Whether it will be enough to replace the Land Cruiser remains to be seen. We’re also still waiting on pricing information to be made available. They’re targeting this summer for its release. It’ll be built alongside the Tundra at their plant in San Antonio, TX.

[Source: Toyota]

Chevrolet Corvette 70th Anniversary Edition

You can’t get a Corvette right now because everyone else wants one, but if you’re willing to pay about 70% of the car’s MSRP as an added dealer markup, then you can spec yours like this. Chevrolet is celebrating a milestone that not many models get to celebrate. 70 years of America’s sports car calls for something a little special.

The 2023 Corvette Stingray and Z06 will be available with a 70th Anniversary Edition appearance package. The updates may only be cosmetic, but just think of how good it’ll look sitting in a bubble in your garage. The 70th Anniversary Edition is available in just two colors – an all-new White Pearl Metallic Tri-coat or Carbon Flash Metallic, each with available contrasting stripes. Each model rides on distinctive wheels (this will differ between Stingray and Z06) with commemorative wheel center caps (!!!) and a dark finish with a red lip.

The interior is distinguished by two-tone black and white seats with red stitching throughout the cabin, sueded microfiber seat inserts and steering wheel, and red seatbelts. There’s also special 70th Anniversary badging inside and out and a custom luggage set. Be sure to keep that luggage in unused condition – that’ll be a major selling point at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale in 2062. And don’t worry if you can’t afford the $50,000 ADM on one of these bad boys – if you can settle for just $20,000 ADM, your standard C8 Stingray or Z06 will still come with a commemorative 70th anniversary interior plaque and lower rear window graphic.

[Source: Chevrolet]

Kia EV6 priced at $40,900

Kia’s latest bid for some EV market share is gearing up for release, and thus its pricing has been confirmed. The EV6 will have an MSRP of $40,900 before federal EV tax credits take effect and drop that to as low as $33,400. As Jalopnik points out, that puts it below most of its biggest competitors in the tall sedan space. The Mach-E commands $43,895 and the Model 3 is even higher at $46,490 (and is no longer valid for federal EV tax credits). Meanwhile the VW ID.4 starts just a tiny bit cheaper at $40,760, but it sucks.

The $40,900 EV6 Light is a bit light on luxury features and just focuses on being an essential, reasonably-priced EV instead. Which is what most buyers need. It ships with a 58 kWh battery with a 168 kW rear motor producing 167 horsepower with an estimated driving range of 232 miles. Step up to the EV6 Wind for $47,000 and you get upgraded to a 77.4kWh battery, the same rear 168 kW motor, 225 horsepower, and a 310 mile range. The specs are the same for the GT-Line RWD model at $51,200. The Wind and GT-Line models are both available with a dual motor layout for an additional $3,900 or $4,700, respectively. The dual motor layout consists of a 77.4 kWh battery, 165 kW rear motor, and 74kW front motor for 320 horsepower and 274 miles of range.

The Kia EV6 is expected to arrive in dealers in the coming weeks.

[Source: Kia via Jalopnik]

People like the Ford Maverick too much

It’s no secret that manufacturers are struggling to keep up with demand given *gestures wildly at everything*, but it’s not often that demand is so high that they’re forced to just stop accepting orders. That’s what Ford had to do this week with the Maverick. Apparently the market responds well to a reasonably-sized pickup with a very reasonable price. It’s almost like this was something people had been wanting for a long time.

As a result of Ford accurately targeting the needs of an untapped market, absolutely no orders for the Maverick are being taken right now. First it was the hybrid model that was sold out for the 2022 model year, but now it’s every 2022 Maverick entirely. For now the order books are closed until the summer for the 2023 model. Trucks are the one thing Ford cares about the most and they’ve been working the hardest to keep precious microchips flowing for those production lines, but this demand proved to be too much for those efforts. So Ford is calling a timeout while they work through their massive backlog.

If you’ve got a Maverick on order, hopefully you won’t need to wait much longer. As for the rest of us, this is hopefully the signal the other manufacturers needed to know that cheap cars are still appreciated and cheap trucks are absolutely needed. Eh, who are we kidding. What we really need is 9,000-pound Hummers and $80,000 F-150s.

[Source: Jalopnik]

Oh, and that Bronco Raptor

This was too big of a story to wait till Friday. As had been rumored for quite some time, the Raptor lineup is expanding to Ford’s newest off roader that hardly anyone can get. The Bronco Raptor is the most extreme way you can get a Bronco, at least for now. It’s wild and ridiculous in every way and it’s great. Read all about it here.

What’s your automotive news?

That’s all I’ve got for you this week, so now it’s your turn. If you saw anything, fixed something, broke everything, or otherwise did anything even remotely car related that you want to share with your fellow hoon, sound off in the comments.

Have a good weekend.