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On July 15, the new generation Toyota Crown officially made its global debut. At the launch of the new car, Toyota launched a total of four models. In addition to the previously announced Crown crossover model, Toyota also launched three derivative Crown models, the sedan version, the travel version and the SUV version, which will also be included in the Crown brand in the future to help Crown occupy more market segments.

At present, Toyota is selling the 15th generation model, which was launched in June 2018 with a four-year model cycle. this new generation of Toyota Crown is the 16th generation model. the new generation of Toyota Crown Crown will be booked in overseas markets this autumn, and then it will also be imported into China, which will be sold by FAW Toyota. Of course, other models are also planned to be gradually introduced into China. Among them, the Crown Crossing, which is the first to be announced, will launch seven cars overseas, each equipped with 2.4T double turbocharged hybrid and 2.5L self-priming hybrid engines, with overseas prices ranging from 435.00 to 6.4 million yen (equivalent to 21.14 to 311000 yuan).

As the 16th generation model, the new car adopts a new appearance design style, which is quite different from previous generations of models. Take the cross-border version of the new Toyota Crown as an example, the front face of the new car uses a large hexagonal intake grille, the interior is a blackened mesh design, the headlights on both sides use through-type LED light belts, the interior of the lamp cavity is composed of four light sources arranged side by side, the crown brand logo is placed in the position of the hood, and the front bumper is flanked by larger hollowed-out openings. On the side of the body, the new generation of crown is no longer a classic three-car shape, but adopts a slip-back body design, the roof line begins to slide from behind the B-column, with large-size rims, the whole is more inclined to sports style, and the body waistline is richer than cash. In terms of body size, the length, width and height of the new car are 4930/1840/1540mm, and the wheelbase is 2850mm. Compared with the current model, the length of the new car increases 20mm, the width increases 40mm, the height increases 85mm, but the wheelbase decreases 70mm. In the rear part, the interior of the taillight is shaped by a broken line, and the black trim added between the lamp groups forms a penetrating visual effect. The shape of the new taillight is similar to that of the previous Lexus ES and is connected with a black decorative strip, and a chrome strip is added to the rear of the car, which is similar to that of the current Lexus ES.

Cross-border sedan version

In the interior part, the new car adopts the design of liquid crystal instrument and central control screen, and is equipped with a three-spoke multi-function steering wheel, and the shift lever is mini-size. the overall design style is consistent with the simple style of Toyota. But compared with the old crown solid wood, leather-clad interior design, the new car appears to be very shabby.

In terms of power, the cross-boundary version of Crown will be equipped with a hybrid system composed of 2.5L engine and motor and a hybrid system composed of 2.4T engine and motor. The maximum power of 2.5L hybrid system is 249hp, and the comprehensive power of 2.4T hybrid system is 350hp. The 2.4T model uses a 6-speed manual self-integrated gearbox and the 2.5L model uses an e-CVT gearbox. The pure electric mileage of the two systems can reach 60km, and both match the electronic four-wheel drive system.

In terms of competitive products, the new car is expected to compete with luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz C-Class, BMW 3-Series, Audi A4L, Lincoln Z, Red Flag H9 and so on.

According to the concern of the automotive industry, the first generation of Toyota Crown was born in 1955, and now it has developed to the 15th generation of products, after 65 years. In the domestic market, the history of the crown began with the import of the second generation crown in 1964, but the formal introduction of domestic production is the 12th generation crown. The 12th generation crown was launched in 2003, and it is precisely this generation of crowns made by FAW Toyota, but it is also known as "there is no crown after 12 generations". In March 2005, the 12th generation Crown was put into production in Tianjin FAW Toyota No.2 Plant and officially listed in China on the 21st with a price range of 30.2-481000 yuan. this is the first time that the crown has been produced outside Japan since its birth 50 years ago. From the perspective of market performance, the domestic production of the 12th generation Crown is undoubtedly the most successful, and its sales even exceed that of Audi A6, with monthly sales of about 20,000 units, which is also the highlight moment of Crown in China.

On December 14, 2009, the 13th generation of domestic Crown was officially put on the market, including 9 models with 2.5L, 3.0L and 4.3L displacement, with a price of RMB32.68-899500. Although the 13th generation Crown is very popular in the Japanese market, but the performance in the Chinese market is not optimistic, because FAW Toyota is a more high-end Majesta version, and although Crown is regarded as Toyota's high-end models, competitors include BMW 5-Series, Audi A6L and other luxury models, but the actual guiding price is almost the same as Audi A4L and BMW 3-Series. Domestic Toyota Crown wants to take advantage of misplaced competition.

FAW Toyota introduced the 14th generation crown to the domestic market in March 2015 and officially listed in September with an official guided price of 250800-374800. Due to the great changes in the appearance and positioning of the new car and the great changes in product style, many people gave up the crown of this generation, and the final sales were dismal. On April 28, 2020, FAW Toyota Crown officially stopped production as the last 14th generation Crown went off the line at the factory, meaning that Toyota Crown models bid farewell to domestic consumers.

After that, although Toyota also launched the 15th generation crown in 2018, this generation is sold only in Japan and has little to do with the domestic market. On July 15, 2021, FAW Toyota announced that Crown has officially become its high-end flagship brand. At present, its models for sale include Crown-Lufang and Crown-Wilfa, that is to say, at that time, the "Crown" in the domestic market was Toyota's high-end flagship brand, which was not closely related to previous Crown models.

Now the 16th generation models have returned to the domestic market and have been introduced into FAW Toyota as imported cars this year. However, unlike previous crowns, the new generation of crowns has completely changed its "way of playing". At the press conference, in addition to the Crown crossover model described in detail above, Toyota also released three models, the sedan version, the SUV version and the travel version, with different styles. It should be noted that these three models are still in the state of concept cars, but are expected to be launched together in the near future.

Sedan version

Travel version

SUV version

Some people in the industry speculate that only one model will replace the 15th generation Crown, while the other three models will continue to use the Crown Logo to supplement the competitiveness of other market segments. Judging from the four models, the new generation of Crown basically covers sedan / cross-border / SUV models. Toyota expects the annual sales of the new generation of models to reach about 200000. As for the market performance of the new generation of Crown in China, let time and the market tell us the answer.

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