After more than sixty years of evergreen, he is still a teenager when he returns.
Time to 2022, the news about the comeback of toyota crown is very loud, according to some previous media releases, crown's successor model is still a sedan, the new car will be based on the TNGA-K front-drive platform to build; the power will be equipped with 2.4T and 2.5L hybrid power, priced between 400,000 and 450,000 yuan; the new car is expected to be released in mid-2022, is still a global model, after the listing will be sold in Japan, North America and the Chinese market; China will be imported. However, the above information has not been confirmed by Toyota officials, so it is only for reference and speculation, but according to the logic of the model, this should be the sixteenth generation of crowns.
Toyota Crown, a car that combines dreams, feelings and luxury complexes, a car that is inextricably linked to life, times and waves. Objectively speaking, the Crown is a good car.
The reason why this car is regarded as a classic, in addition to its more than 60 years of model history, but also because it has a deep origin with China, from Premier Zhou personally named and introduced as a reception car for the Canton Fair; to the beautiful 80s of the last century, it became the dream car of the group of people who became rich before the reform and opening up; and then to the official domestic production, and once became the "shoulder handle" of the luxury medium and large car market... So that even after the decline of the Chinese market, many people still have a lingering "crown complex" in their hearts.
On April 28, 2020, Crown, which has experienced the domestic production of 12th, 13th and 14th generations of models in China, has been producing 15 years and producing 483679 units. The misfortune is that at the end of 2020, Toyota announced that it would discontinue the Crown model in Japan due to the decline in demand, at that time, the Japanese market sold the fifteenth generation of crowns, and the saying at the time was that after the fifteenth generation of crowns was discontinued, it would be relaunched with SUV models in the future and would be introduced to North America, China and Japan for sale, and the new car was expected to be released in 2022, that is, this year.
Although there are some meanings of "catching the wind and catching the shadow", but the news of the "return of the crown" has also caused a commotion in the Chinese market, thinking that the crown was discontinued two years ago, some people in the circle issued a sigh of "if I quietly leave, the jun will sigh for the rest of my life", which is enough to prove the influence of the crown in the minds of some consumer groups. The charm of the crown may not lie in the car itself, but in history, in feelings, in faith... This may be the reason for the "return" of the crown.
The crown is more than just a car
Not only many Chinese car fans have a "crown complex", for Toyota, the status of the crown is also extraordinary, its flagship car standards, representing Toyota's impact on the luxury medium and large car market, but also for Toyota has made great contributions, success; although because the crown has not kept up with the changes of the times, it has to go to the situation of suspension, but this "hero" is still Toyota's unforgettable hero. Moreover, Crown has a large number of loyal fans in Japan, North America and the Chinese market, which has great commercial value in itself. On this point, we may be more explicit in the context of the history of the Crown model.
The first generation of the crown was launched in Japan on January 1, 1955, and it should be noted that it was the first purely self-developed model in the history of the Japanese automobile industry. And after the listing, the sales volume is very good, not only in Japan, but also exported to Europe and the United States, Toyota saw the opportunity, directly put the crown in the position of the family flagship, became the "top pillar" of the market, and represented the japanese automotive technology of the set of the world's forefront. The first-generation crown not only featured a duell door design, but also applied Japan's first double-wishbone independent front suspension.
The second generation of the crown was launched in 1962, with the background of japan's rapid economic development and the elements of large cars in the United States at the same time, the crown was also a large and comfortable luxury car, the body size expanded sharply, showing the flagship style; later also derived a high-end version of the Crown Eight "Crown 8" (that is, the prototype of the later Toyota Century Century); and because of the 1967 "007 Perak Valley" movie as Bond's car and became famous.
The third generation of the crown was born in 1967, although this generation of crown mechanically continued the general structure of the second-generation model, but in terms of positioning, it was no longer so commercial, but began to aim at the "people who got rich first", and became a model for high-end private cars at that time.
The fourth generation of the crown, which was launched in 1971, adopted a wedge-shaped bionic approach in design, and in addition to the four-door sedan, it also launched a travel version and a coupe version, and the top version used "Royal Saloon" for the first time and continued to be used until 2020. The fourth-generation crown and China's connection was in 1973, when Premier Zhou personally negotiated with the Japanese side to introduce 200 crowns as reception vehicles for the Canton Fair.
The fifth-generation crown, released in 1974, faded the fashionable elements in the design, changed back to the dignified route, and adopted a large number of silver chrome decorations to create an elegant and dynamic style; technically it became the world's first model with a 4-speed automatic transmission with super speed ratio, and even a series of technologies such as power steering, four-wheel disc brake, and double-live brake calipers that seemed amazing at the time.
Starting from the sixth generation of the crown in 1979, Toyota has a clearer plan for the future design style direction and positioning of this car, and since then, atmosphere, stability and luxury have become the DNA of the crown. The sixth-generation Crown continues the high-end route, not only approaching the same Mercedes-Benz S-Class in terms of configuration level, but also offering 10 power combinations for consumers to choose from. It is worth mentioning that in the context of the 70th generation of the oil crisis of the last century, Toyota developed the world's first 2.0T turbocharged engine on the sixth generation of the crown; by 1982, a 2.4T turbocharged engine version was launched to suit the tastes of consumers in different countries and regions.
Entering the Japanese economic bubble period in the 1980s, due to the amazing purchasing power of the private sector, automakers opened an "arms race" and frantically piled up high-tech configurations on luxury cars. In this context, the seventh-generation Crown, launched in 1983, was based on the development concept of "the world's most advanced flagship car", using ABS, ESC, TEMS electronically controlled active suspension system, four-wheel independence, as well as a power steering wheel that can be used according to turning force and speed sensing, eight-way memory power seats, power mirrors, rear seat refrigerators, etc.; at the same time, the seventh-generation Crown was also the only front-mounted rear-drive model in the world at that time with a full frame production. In addition, this generation of crowns has also come to the Chinese market through import channels in large quantities, becoming the most sought after high-end car in the domestic automobile market in the early stage of reform and opening up.
The eighth-generation crown launched in 1987 continued the "arms race" route, with a frightening number of configurations, explosive combat effectiveness, LCD instruments, CRT color touch central control screens, and power folding mirrors, car phones, CD players, rear color LCD car TVs and other luxurious configurations appeared on the eighth generation of crowns. Among them, the central control screen also has a built-in EMV multimedia system, you can watch TV, view vehicle information, audio control, etc., and even load the city map through the CD, with the help of geomagnetic sensors to calculate the trajectory, understand the real-time traffic situation, it can be said that the prototype of modern multimedia vehicles, these high-tech in the 80s of the last century, as if from the future world. The eighth-generation Crown also set a new sales record, with 208,000 units sold in Japan alone in 1990, and the "Crown 133", which is very familiar to the Chinese, is the late eighth-generation model launched in 1991.
Entering the 90s of the last century, the global automotive industry began to popular rich and rounded design style, born in 1991, the ninth generation of crown also conformed to this wave of trends, this generation of crown in addition to continue to increase and optimize high-tech configuration, such as electric seat adjustment, airbags, seat belt untied reminders, electronic parking, car TV, etc., but also ingeniously launched a very historic MAJESTA version, which shows Toyota's determination to build the crown into a luxury flagship. The car for the first time using a load-bearing body, from the body inside and outside the design chassis are independently completed, the standard to see lexus LS, technically using four-wheel steering, VSC, HUD and other advanced technology configuration, luxury and more technology.
The 10th generation of the Crown, launched in 1995, was replaced by a simple and tough body, durable and elegant, this time, Toyota introduced the GOA safety body concept for the first time for the Crown, and equipped with VSC body stability control system, side safety curtain, etc.; powered by a 3.0L in-line 6-cylinder engine, and more luxurious configurations such as rear air conditioning system, rear seat electric adjustment, rear multimedia control system and so on. This generation of crowns has also been imported into the Chinese market in large quantities, and the cumulative sales volume worldwide has reached 4 million, which is of great significance.
The eleventh generation of crowns launched in 1999 is relatively unfamiliar in China, but in this generation of cross-world models, Toyota first applied the Mild Hybrid system, which is now common intelligent start and stop; and in the MAJESTA version corresponding to the eleventh generation of crowns, it is also equipped with a 4.0L V8 engine and an i-Four four-wheel drive system; in addition, in order to cater to the tastes of young people at that time, the eleventh generation of crowns also launched the Athlete sports series.
The twelfth generation to the fourteenth generation of crowns, domestic consumers are more familiar with, of which, the twelfth generation of crowns after the domestic production, in the domestic medium and large car market share of more than 30%, pressure BBA class executive car, the crown at that time can be described as the scenery is unique. However, the high-end models of ordinary brands do compete with luxury brands in the domestic market, coupled with the deviation of the market positioning of the crown in the later two generations of models, as well as the changes that domestic users just need, which eventually makes the model withdraw from the domestic market.
In 2018, Crown came to the fifteenth generation, adopting a new TNGA architecture and transforming into a sneakback sports car to cater to the preferences of young people. The fifteenth generation of the crown has not been introduced in China, and the performance in the Japanese domestic market is also weak, and Toyota also announced the suspension of this model at the end of 2020.
"Borrowing corpses to return the soul", what is the prospect of the sixteenth generation of crowns?
Judging from the information and model pictures exposed by the media a few days ago, the sixteenth generation of crowns has undergone earth-shaking changes in the previous crown design, no longer continuing the design concept of the crown's consistent calm and luxurious, but instead a more powerful sense of technology and sportiness; and based on the TNGA-K front-drive platform, it is actually a level of positioning, the same as the Camry, Asian Dragon and other models, but the price of 400,000-450,000 yuan exposed is one level higher than the existence of Lexus ES.
Now it seems that Toyota announced the suspension of the crown in 2020, but it is for today's reshaping of the new life, in order to cater to the current era, borrowed the name "crown", but the car itself is not related to the previous crown, purely to restore the original brand image and launched, in addition to selling feelings, more need to obtain profits, so it belongs to the "borrowing corpse to return the soul" to make profits for car companies.
Written in the end: The story of the crown may continue, and this model with a deep history has now become a product of pandering to the market. As for the next sixteen generations of real mass production and introduction into the country, whether they can rely on a name as a gimmick to make consumers pay, or depends on the market reaction.