I guess the staff at Canadian Driver are clueless as well then. I quote:"Designed and built in North America for this market only, the five-seat Venza offers consumers an alternative to an SUV or minivan (or a sedan, for that matter) by combining attributes of each of those vehicles on its Toyota Camry platform."It's not clueless if ppl understand what "platform" sharing actually is. However, IMO, it is superficial reporting because it confuses ppl like yourself that think it's simply a matter of "
It's a Camry with a new rear clip and a nose job".
![Undecided :-\](https://www.autos.ca/forum/Smileys/CarTalk/undecided.gif)
A few vehicles that share the same "platform":
Toyota Supra coupe and the Lexus RX300 SUV
Volkwagen New Beetle and the Audi TT roadster
Volkswagen Passat and Audi A4 and A6 in all models
All vehicles built from a single platform have the same welding points, allowing them to share a single assembly line and have similar wheel housings. However, under-body parts like the floor pan and rails receive spacers and extensions. After that they can be AWD, V6, I4, hatches, rag tops, vans, whatever.
Mechanically, the Venza shares more with a Highlander than a Camry. Functionally, the Venza is much closer to the Highlander than the Camry.