Toyota sells top luxury SUV: the aura is not inferior to Cullinan, starting from 1.24 million yuan, or side sliding doors

East Curlinan"

Author|Cao Tingting Wang Lei

Just now, Toyota's most proud SUV was officially released.

The new century SUV completed its debut in Japan, which is the SUV version of the century sedan and Toyota's "Rolls-Royce", hanging the phoenix logo, positioned higher than Landkuluze.

Source: Toyota

Even higher is the starting price of 25 million yen, equivalent to about 1.24 million yuan, and there is a limited edition of 30 units per month.

As Toyota's ultra-luxury car series, Century Sedan is mainly supplied to the Japanese market, while Century SUV is different, Toyota chief brand officer Simon Humphries has revealed that this model is planned to be sold to the global market in the future.

This means that the Century SUV is expected to enter the domestic market in the form of imports within next year.

If the century SUV really enters the country, according to the tonality of Toyota's high-end cars, will it be another price king?

01

 "Rolls-Royce Japan"

Let's take a look at what this car looks like.

The shape of the century SUV can be said to be very retro, and this sense of luxury is very in line with Toyota's consistent style.

Its headlights adopt a split design, daytime running lights are divided into four groups, and the upper and lower contours of the headlights are very old. The front grille of the new car has a relatively simple silhouette and adopts a three-dimensional grid decoration.

Source: Toyota

There is a phoenix logo on the front of the car, and in order to reflect the dignity, the phoenix logo on each car is handmade.

Source: Toyota

From the side, the body shape is very traditional, using a two-tone body design, the front and rear wheel eyebrows are slightly raised, there is a small wide-body visual effect, in the side line position of the window and the side skirt, are decorated with chrome strips, multi-banner wheel design, making the car look more luxurious.

Source: Toyota

The new car's thick D-pillar is very similar to the Rolls-Royce Cullinan.

At the rear, the rear window is concave design, and the four L-shaped light groups in the new taillights also echo the design of the headlights, which are very recognizable after being lit, and the exhaust design of the bilateral double exit still gives a very dignified and thick feeling.

Source: Toyota

The model measures 5205/1990/1805mm in length, width and height, has a wheelbase of 2950mm, and weighs 2570kg.

For reference, the length, width and height dimensions of the Rolls-Royce Cullinan are 5341mm, 2000mm, 1837mm, and the wheelbase is 3295mm.

Source: Toyota

As can be seen from the press conference, there are two different versions of the model in the venue, which also shows that Toyota's new Century SUV will launch at least two models, including the basic model and the GR high-performance sports version for consumers to buy.

From the perspective of Toyota Century's positioning, the main focus is not performance, but ride comfort. Century SUV continues this style, the interior layout is simple and atmospheric, leather material almost covers the entire interior, the center console and armrest box are decorated with solid wood, the rear row with independent seats, can be reclining adjustment, each seat has an independent display.

Source: Toyota

Not only that, the four-piece multi-function steering wheel, LCD instrumentation, floating center control screen and other designs have added a sense of dignity to this car.

Source: Toyota

The Sport version offers GR exclusive badges, a blackened grille and wheels, and the GR Series models also include a large number of carbon fiber kits.

Source: Toyota

It is worth mentioning that the GR high-performance model also seems to be equipped with the power side sliding doors used on previous MPV models to show its special identity.

However, based on the brand tonality of the century, even the GR high-performance sports version, in order to take care of ride comfort, the overall performance should not be too exaggerated.

The new car is based on Toyota's TNHGA-K architecture, which covers mainstream models such as the North American Highlander, Elfa/Wilfa, Lexus LM, TX, etc., and the vehicle is also equipped with a four-wheel steering system to ensure its handling.

Source: Toyota

In terms of power, the century SUV will be equipped with Toyota's latest "Hybrid Max Powertrain" hybrid system, and will be equipped with two power systems in the future, including a 2.4T Hybrid MAX hybrid engine, whose maximum power will not be less than 340 horsepower, as the power system of the basic model.

Source: Toyota

The other powertrain adopts the same powertrain as the flagship TX 550h+, a hybrid assembly composed of a 3.5T turbocharged engine + dual electric motors, with a pure electric range of 69 kilometers and a comprehensive output of 412 horsepower, and is mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission and a four-wheel drive system.

Source: Toyota

According to the information disclosed so far, this power system may be carried on the GR sports version.

02

 Who is Toyota Century?

In addition to Lexus and Toyota Crown, Toyota also has a low-key and luxurious brand, which does not appear on the street, but preferentially "serves" the Japanese royal family, which is Toyota Century.

The Toyota Century is a model introduced to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Sagichi Toyoda, the father of Kiichiro Toyoda, the founder of Toyota Motor and the great-grandfather of Akio Toyoda. In the year of its introduction, because it was also the 100th anniversary of Meiji in Japan, the two 100th anniversaries met together, and this model was also named Toyota Century.

Toyota Century is rarely exported to other countries, and because the body is handmade, it is produced very little, and it is given to the royal family and administrative personnel, and it is also known as Japan's own "Rolls-Royce".

The first generation of Toyota Century was born in 1967, codenamed VG20, with a very square appearance, dignified and calm. In fact, since the beginning, Toyota has not made the Toyota Century a trendy and gorgeous style, but is very solemn and low-luxury.

The first generation of Toyota Century was equipped with a 3.0L displacement V8 engine, with 3-speed and 4-speed automatic transmissions to choose from, which was absolutely the top level among Japanese luxury cars at the time, and the length of the first generation Toyota Century standard model reached 5120mm and the wheelbase reached 2860mm.

In 1973, Toyota updated the engine for the generation Toyota Century, replacing the 3.0L V8 engine with a 3.4L V8 engine, and two years later, the Toyota Century no longer used a manual transmission.

Source: Toyota

Changes to the first generation of the Toyota Century followed, for example, from 1982, the code name was changed to VG40, while the engine was further expanded to 4.0L displacement, and by 1990, Toyota also introduced the Type L version of the Century codenamed VG45.

After 30 years from the first generation of Toyota Century, in 1997, Toyota launched the second generation Toyota Century, in order to continue to maintain a solemn image, Toyota Second Century is not much different from the first generation.

Source: Toyota

The second-generation Toyota Century is based on the Lexus LS series, and the Phoenix LOGO on the front part of the car is also handmade, and the body is selected with high-grade materials and up to seven layers of paint.

Toyota even developed a V12 engine specifically for it, and this engine is only for this model, codenamed 1GZ-FE, with a displacement of 5.0L. Smooth acceleration and quiet operation are the biggest features of this engine, which is matched to a 4-speed automatic transmission, and later upgraded to a 6-speed automatic transmission in 2005.

The second-generation Toyota Century is even more impressive in terms of space and comfort, with body dimensions based on the Type L version of the first-generation model, reaching 5270×1890×1475mm, wheelbase reaching 3025mm, and air suspension.

In 2006, Toyota introduced the Century Royal Edition, which became the exclusive car of the Japanese emperor and the royal family, with a more comfortable seating space, a terrifying length of 6155mm, and a wheelbase of 3510mm.

The powertrain is a 5.0-liter V12 engine paired with a 6-speed automatic transmission, and a total of 4 units were produced in the Century Royal Edition, including 3 sedans and a hearse.

In 2017, Toyota launched the third generation Toyota Century, the body and interior are full of high-end luxury, it is said that the production standard of the paint surface is extremely high, 7 layers of coating must be baked at least 5 times, just to create a mirror version of the effect, the interior materials are the most expensive materials in the Toyota system.

Source: Toyota

In the power system, the V12 engine was eliminated and replaced by a more advanced gasoline-electric hybrid system, with the internal combustion engine part being a 5.0-liter displacement V8 cylinder direct injection engine; the electric part being powered by a nickel-metal hydride battery developed by Toyota to power the electric motor.

It can be seen that Toyota Century has always represented Toyota's highest production standards, and to this day, many executives still respect Toyota Century.

03 

Can Dongying Cullinan fight

Now with the advent of the century SUV, the market is no longer limited to Japan, but how big can the market for this car be?

Let's first look at the pricing, this model of more than one million, after being imported into China, is bound to be higher than Japan's, or even double. Corresponding to this is the Maybach GLS, Hongqi LS7, and Toyota's own Lexus LX series.

Source: Toyota

Although the Toyota Century brand is a national top luxury car in Japan, its popularity in the Chinese market is still relatively low, even the Toyota Century Sedan that entered China very early years ago is also old.

In 1999, Toyota intended to introduce the Toyota Century into China, but due to popularity problems, sales of this car were very low and it was quickly withdrawn from China.

Source: Toyota

In terms of user accumulation and brand influence, Toyota Century is far inferior to the German BBA. Among the luxury cars priced at nearly one million, everyone is naturally more willing to choose a more well-known and influential luxury brand.

Source: Toyota

It is estimated that only a small number of very rich and low-key people can choose the Toyota Century. Of course, based on Toyota's earlier prestige, the Century SUV will still have a group of fans.

It's just that for the domestic market, the sales of Japanese brands themselves are declining, coupled with the impact of new forces and independent car companies, the faith value of domestic consumers on old cars is constantly decreasing, which makes the Japanese brands that are already in an embarrassing situation more optimistic.

A practical question, if you have money, buy BYD's Yangwang U8, or Toyota Century SUV?