The Toyota Crown Affair: Will Toyota Send us a Crown SUV?
Toyota looks to be bringing a new Toyota SUV to the U.S. to replace the Land Cruiser, and it’s not the SUV you were thinking. The Japanese company is reportedly revamping its domestic-market Crown sedan, creating a Crown SUV, and will export it to North America.
This isn’t the first time Toyota has teased us with a Crown coming here. But we know the name, the Crown in Japan is as legendary on sedans as Continental, Imperial, or Fleetwood here. This would be the first Toyota Crown SUV.
A U.S. market Crown would be a first
According to Reuters, Toyota will build a hybrid, a PHEV, and fully-electric version of the SUV. Sales could begin in the summer of 2023. The Crown is flagship sedan in Japan, and any version would likely be built to the highest luxury and comfort standards.
This could be big news for fans of the 67-year old Crown nameplate in the U.S., especially if a revamped sedan comes too. But Toyota does have room in a lineup for a top-dog SUV since the Land Cruiser was discontinued here.
Previous Crowns were Lexus models
The company does make the Lexus LX 600 ultra-luxury SUV, which is based on a version of the Land Cruiser not sold in the U.S.
Since 2021, the Sequoia SUV has been Toyota’s flagship SUV in the American market. That SUV is more closely related to the Tundra full-size pickup than other SUVs the company makes.
The Toyota Crown was the first car built and designed in Japan
In the US we know the Crown as the older Lexus GS, which was sold here from 1992 to 2020 in several different generations. In 2018 the company updated the 15th generation of the Crown. It was Toyota’s first connected car, which focused on connecting the car to its owner and providing guidance diagnosis reports remotely.
Crowns may be driver focused, but they are often used as chauffeur vehicles in Japan and the back seat has always been the place to be. Much like Lincoln Continentals here, they are popular with livery companies.
The Crown is the Lincoln Continental of Japan
The Crown was launched in Japan in 1955 with some innovative features, for the time, that included front wheel double wishbone suspension and a new chassis that was larger than most anything else on the road a the time. By 1967 the crown had become a much more luxurious car and featured power windows, power steering, disk brakes and more.
The Crown continued to grow and become more luxurious. In 1991 we came to know it as the Lexus LS sedan. Later versions of the Crown were re-badged as Lexus cars, however we did not get a version of the latest car. But, we’re looking forward to seeing what the 16th generation looks like.
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