Toyota reveals 2018 Crown as a completely redesigned flagship

KUALA LUMPUR: The Century may be the most expensive saloon in Toyota’s lineup, however, company's original flagship sedan, the Crown is given an all-new touch for 2018.

The Toyota Crown was displayed as a concept back at the Tokyo Motor Show 2017. The 15th generation version of the car has borrowed certain styling elements from the Lexus ES and LS but has a smoother profile all over. The front grille expands up to the top and bottom edge of the hood, including the bumper. However, despite having the estate-like design, the rear profile resembles a coupe, with the shallow roofline.

In its home country, Toyota sells the Crown is sold in seven different trim. However, the two variants called the Athlete and the Royal Saloon have been chopped off the lineup. The present set of variants include - B, S, G, G-Executive, RS-B, RS, and the RS Advance. The last three of the seven are the sportier trims down the entire lineup.

Toyota has designed the cabin with utmost precision. It has not taken the high-tech full-digital instrument cluster route and constructed the dials on the centre console in the analogue form. The entire cabin is wrapped with fine leather upholstery and while the luxury-focused trims have wooden inserts and the sports-focused variants feature carbon fibre trim.

The new Toyota Crown will be available in a total of three engine options. The base engine would house a 2.0-litre turbocharged motor making 245 PS of power and 350 Nm of torque. A 2.5-litre hybrid motor would be the mid-spec option and make 226 PS of power.

 

However, the range-topping 3.5-litre V6 engine would be the most powerful of the lot and combined with the hybrid technology, it'll make 359 PS of power.

It is important to note that since the Lexus LS and ES are already being sold in the Malaysian market, Toyota may not bring the Crown here anytime soon.