The crown is undoubtedly the most important mark left by Toyota in the Chinese auto market, especially the 12th generation crown, with its elegant and calm design, luxurious interior and configuration, and rear-drive V6 power, once competed with the Audi A6L, and has many fans in the market. However, as the design direction of the 13th generation model began to change to sport, the crown that had lost the charm of the past inevitably declined. In April 2020, the 14th generation of crowns ended its life in the Chinese market and ushered in the final production.
The Asian Dragon is regarded as a model that replaces the crown, but if you think about it carefully, although the Asian Dragon has won the crown in terms of sales, and the average sales volume per month is close to 10,000 vehicles, it has always been inferior to the crown in terms of positioning, and the pricing is even lower. In fact, the success of the crown cannot be replicated. The word "crown" in many people's minds represents high-end and luxury, the special historical environment is also a large part of the reason, in the original choice of the lack of years, the quality and comfort represented by the crown is basically up to the top level of the medium and large cars at that time, which further magnifies the advantages of the crown, laying its irreplaceable market position.
FAW Toyota independently became a brand of crowns last year, and the average sales of crowns launched by it exceeded 6,000 vehicles, which is actually a crown sentiment bonus in the hearts of consumers on the one hand. However, in the final analysis, what can really land feelings depends on the crown Buddha-figure. Recently, there is news that the 15th generation of crown will be introduced into the Chinese market by import, and the price is expected to be around 350,000-450,000 yuan. So can it make consumers' feelings land?
In terms of design, the fifteenth generation of models and the impression of the crown is still a great subversion, the overall design is more exaggerated and radical, if it is not the front of the crown LOGO, it may be difficult to make people think that this is a crown. The body is surrounded by a sporty surround, the side uses a simple double waist line, the body looks capable but does not lose the sense of power, and the double ring taillights are highly recognizable after lighting.
The interior has never been Toyota's strength, the fifteenth generation of the crown is equipped with a 12.3-inch floating touch screen, and retains most of the physical buttons, the overall look is still a more traditional design, but from the material and workmanship can still see the quality of the crown. In terms of configuration, Toyota also equipped the car with adaptive cruise, active braking with pedestrian and bicycle detection, emergency steering obstacle avoidance and other active safety driving assistance configurations.
The length, width and height of the Japanese market are 4910/1800/1455 mm, which is actually not dominant at the moment, and the exterior looks shorter than the Asian dragon, but the internal space is still considerable, after all, the wheelbase has reached 2920mm.
In terms of core power, the Crown uses a 2.0T turbocharged, 2.5L oil-electric hybrid and a 3.5LV6 version, matching the 8AT or E-CVT transmission, of which the 2.0T version has a maximum horsepower of 245 hp and a peak torque of 350 Nm. The 3.5-liter engine has a maximum horsepower of 299 hp and a peak torque of 356 Nm.
In fact, the fifteenth generation of the crown is not the latest sale, the car has been launched in the Japanese market in 2018, it has been more than three years, but the country has been in a fault state. So from the perspective of internal and external design, in fact, the crown is not too tempting to put in the current competitive market, and the price of 350,000 yuan after import is difficult to be convincing, after all, the starting price of Lexus ES only needs more than 290,000 yuan, but the identity of crown import may indeed limit its price. At that time, it will look at whether the face of the Lexus brand is greater, or the feelings are more touching.