Toyota Crown officially revealed

Back in 1955 when the Toyota Crown was first conceived, it was a conventional sedan.

Today, it’s anything but conventional.

The livestreamed global launch held today for the 2022 Toyota Crown revealed four different body styles – including a wacky crossover – for the new-generation flagship model line.

Following countless teasers, leaks and even unofficial renders, the Crown finally emerged in traditional sedan form, along with a slightly raised station wagon, a sporty SUV and a crossover that Toyota says “fuses a sedan and an SUV”.

A pair of four-cylinder hybrid powertrains were also confirmed, including an all-new powerplant generating 260kW.

The global launch was hosted by Toyota’s global CEO, Akio Toyoda, who triumphantly confirmed the new 16th-generation Crown would be “offered not just in Japan but globally for the very first time”.

The brand has since confirmed the Crown will be sold in 40 countries. However, Australia is unlikely to be one of them.

A Toyota Australia spokesperson stated the company has “no plans to introduce the Crown model or any of its sub-variants to the Australian market”.

“It’s not something we’re considering at present. We’ve got Camry and anything bigger and more luxurious goes into Lexus territory,” the spokesperson said.

Few details were revealed beyond the striking new body styles and bold colour schemes, but Toyota has developed improved autonomous driving functionality and a remote parking system that doesn’t require the driver to be in the vehicle.

Toyota has kept the cabin design more conservative than the exterior, with twin digital screens dominating the fairly conventional dashboard design.

Lush perforated leather seats are in evidence, and while the interior has no radical design elements, customers can option colour-matched leather upholstery.

In the powertrain department, the headline act is an all-new ‘dual-boost’ 2.4-litre turbo-petrol hybrid unit that will generate an impressive 260kW (350hp) and 550Nm.

It comprises a 2.4-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine that’s directly connected to a front-mounted electric motor, driving through a six-speed automatic transmission.

A second and larger rear-mounted e-motor combines with the front axle power sources to deliver precision all-wheel drive, says Toyota.

At the entry level, the Crown will also offer a version of Toyota’s familiar naturally-aspirated 2.5-litre hybrid powertrain.

When converted from Japanese yen, prices start at $46,500 for the 2.5-litre hybrid models and rise to $68,000 for the most expensive 2.4-litre turbocharged hybrid versions.

The new Toyota Crown is not a game-changing vehicle by any stretch – there’s no solid state batteries or EV versions – but Toyoda said it was the “dawn of a new era” and could be a signal that Toyota intends to be a far more disruptive force in the automotive industry.

“It could very well be our crowning achievement,” joked the Toyota CEO, who said he actively encouraged his car designers to “break the rules”.

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