Toyota has distilled its Crown car range into a separate marque in China, AutoHome reports along with posting images of the company’s new crossover sedan. As a standalone company, Crown will maintain its own dealership network and model range composed of SUVs, sedans, wagons and minivans.
If the logo feels familiar, that’s because Toyota put it on its Crown cars in Japan. The current plans involve opening 12 dealerships in China until the end of the year and 40 by the year 2025. The project will be implemented by the FAW-Toyota JSC.
The company has unveiled two ‘new’ models in the country along with the announcement, called the Toyota Crown Kluger and Toyota Crown Vellfire. In reality, though, the former is a barely modified Highlander SUV and the latter is a redesigned Alphard minivan. In addition to this, the original Toyota Crown sedan had been in production in China for decades, where it had competed against European premium vehicles over the course of several generations. In the early 2020s, the sharply declining sales forced the automaker to discontinue the Crown and replace it with Avalon.
Another new car slated to go on sale in China before the end of the year is called Crown CrossSport. It is a high-riding sedan offering two three-motor drivetrains to choose between. One of them uses a 2.5-liter naturally aspirated engine and CVT and makes 239 PS (236 hp / 176 kW). The other one benefits from a 2.4-liter turbo engine and six-speed auto gearbox, churning out 345 PS (340 hp / 254 kW).
Later additions to the range will include a sedan, an estate car and a crossover SUV. Toyota announced all three when it revealed the next-gen Crown saloon in mid-summer (see video). Some of these vehicles may end up being electrified or all-electric, but we won’t know until closer to the premiere.
