2010 4Runner
I agree with you winkosmosis, the new 2010 4Runner is Toyota’s new 'truck'. While their are some styling cues I don't care for/need to grow on me, over all it looks taller, more squared, rugged, and truck-like than my 4th Gen 4Runner.
More important is what Toyota has done with the chassis and 4x4 features, as beauty is more than skin deep when it comes to mechanical things. I have a feeling this utility vehicle (I like the old school name over “SUV” for real 4x4s) will be supported almost immediately and more throughly by the off-highway aftermarket than the 4th Gen. Is it lost on the Jeep guys that this rig has a frame, instead of a unibody like the new Grand Cherokee? I know, love is blind ☺
Highlander/Company Look
It took a while to grow on me but I like the new Highlander for what it is, a mall cawlin' cross-over. We are considering one as a winter daily-driver for my wife in the future.
It’s not a coincidence that the new LC200, Highlander, 4Runner, and FJC share some styling cues. I think the Toyota designers and marketing department know what they are doing ☺
The Highlander is much more curvy and bulbuous. The 4Runner does have some of the cues, but it's boxy and chunky. They DID get back to building trucks, and the 4Runner is it.
Look at this thread on the new WL Grand Cherokee
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f118/2010-wl-jeep-grand-cherokee-691346/
For some reason those Jeepers love the new Grand, even though it looks like a bloated bulbuous 90s marshmallow minivan. Someone posted a pic of the 4Runner, and it created a bandwagon effect of people bashing it for being "ugly". I'm having to defend it for looking
like a truck.