Featured Coming to America, the Toyota Crown

Yeah, shame on me for thinking that you have to pay less for getting ripped off at the gas pump... And funny part is the "more power" from a gas engine is a joke compared to what you get for "more power" from an electric motor.

 

Just?

Those are big numbers for height.

Though it is helping me to see where this car fits in. Way back the AMC Concord offered a setup like this. More recently the Subaru Outback SUS, Honda Accord Crosstour and a couple of Volvos (x60 crosscountry) have been set up this way.

 

When have you have not had to pay more for the more performance model? The few examples of paying more for a pure efficiency improvement are exceptions to the rule.

We don't know how much the Hybrid MAX motor is contributing to the system.

This is what Americans want, and why Toyota calls it the crossover type. The Japanese will get a true sedan version.

The Impala and Taurus have been gone for a few years now. The Avalon was selling in about the same volume as they were before the end. I was a little surprised Toyota kept offering the Avalon for as long as they did. For the US, the Crown needs to be more than a big sedan in order to succeed.

Who knows, maybe people will switch back to sedans with the gas prices, and we'll see a Crown sedan here.

The profile reminded me of the Crosstour. Alas, the Crown has a trunk. Some BMW X's have that sedan shape.

 

Even with the (relatively) high gasprices, americans still have no scruples buying a 28mpg car? A hybrid no less?

I'll repeat again: where does this American urge to deplete the worlds oilreserves as fast as possible come from? Just because you need to have a bigger, faster car than your neighbor?

To be fair, I grew up in a country where both fuel (so better mpg is important) and ownership (per weight of the car, so light cars save you money) are taxed very heavily, so both weigh heavily on deciding what car to buy. Not sure if I would be this 'conscious' if I had grown up in the States...

(Gas ~10$/gallon (little less since the dollar caught up to the euro last few weeks) and my Prius costs about 850$ roadtax. My Volvo about 2500$ (weight and a surcharge for being a diesel)).

 

I agree...the MPG of the Corolla Cross and this Toyota Crown are underwhelming to say the least.

In my opinion, we need more cars like the Prius C in the USA. In fact, I'm seeing a lot more Prius C, other Prius vehicles, and other small vehicles on the road these days...gee I wonder why? I wonder where they all were before? ( hint - on the lot...'nobody' wanted them before fuel prices rose dramatically ). I've also heard that 'big vehicle' owners are keeping their trucks but are buying a small 'daily driver' to same money. Toyota really made a timing error when they cancelled the Prius C in the USA...but that decision was made well before fuel prices started rising. And to their credit, the Prius C certainly wasn't a big seller back then so it was an easy decision, in terms of corporate planning.

Unfortunately, I'm not confident things will change here. The 'average consumer' in the USA probably sees the 28MPG Crown as a big step up in efficiency from the tanks they currently drive. To us MPG enthusiasts, it is underwhelming...but to the 'average joe', it looks great.

 

There is a punchline to a joke that goes, "a hundred years is a long time in the US, and a hundred miles is a long distance in the UK." America is huge. We have states bigger than some European countries. And once upon a time, we were a major oil producer.

The space lead to sprawl. So commutes are generally longer than outside the country. There is also disdain for public transit, that is likely wrapped up in Cold War propaganda. Air travel once was very expensive. Our only personal rail line takes a back seat to freight. Which lead to most Americans driving everywhere. That resulted in cars getting tangled up in our freedom culture.

People here wanted nice, comfortable cars, which meant bigger ones. Fuel prices were rarely a concern historically. It didn't help that the small cars available weren't considered nice. The first ones of those came from Europe.

Keep in mind this 28mpg Crown will have the same fuel economy in Japan. It is just like the original Accord hybrid in being the top trim, and fuel economy comes second to performance. That Accord was a power hybrid to dismiss the hybrids are slow myth of the time. In the past, this Crown would have a thirstier V6, or even a V8.

Most of the Crowns sold will be the 38mpg version. The overall weight and aerodynamics isn't much different than the Rav4 hybrid, which is where the hybrid drive train comes from. The official rating will be better.

The decisions for this Crown where made back then. It is also Toyota's flagship model in Japan; I think the Emperor is driven around in one. The market for it is different than the one for the Prius and Aqua.

This is part of the reason for the growth of SUV sales. A new Rav4 does worse than the new Camry, but it does better than the old Camry that is being traded in.

 

[offtopic]No clue if the emporor is driven around in one but I recently learned there is a V12 powered Toyota, where the engine is ONLY used in that model. By the sound of it, it is a moneypit for Toyota but being continued none the less. Once I find it again, I'll post a link.

EDIT: so far found this WIKI link to the engine, which also suggests it is no longer produced. Not sure if the successor is still a V12, if they dropped the whole car or if they wised up and put a V8 hybrid in it.

EDIT2: yes they did, it has a V8 hybrid now.

[/offtopic]

 

That car is the Century, which I was confusing with the Crown. It sounds like it is mostly sold for limo duties, and there are 4 Century Royals which are the official state car for the Emperor.

The Crown and Century were the luxury sedans of Toyota's line up long before Lexus was thing, which wasn't available in Japan until 2005. The Crown has been in production since 1955, and several other Toyotas were named after it.
"The Crown's history and reputation has given it prominence in the Toyota lineup, as it is one of the few current Toyota models to carry its own unique insignia for the model line with the current Crown having a stylized crown emblem on the grille and steering wheel along with inspiring the names of its smaller progenitors. The Corona, introduced as a smaller companion to the Crown means "crown" in Latin and was initially exported as the "Tiara", while the Corolla took its name from the corolla ("small crown") in Latin. The Camry's name is derived from the Japanese phrase kanmuri (冠, かんむり) meaning "little crown" and the Scepter took its name from the sceptre, an accessory to a crown." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Crown

 

On the plus side it'll make the tailgaters appear farther behind me...

 

The Avalon demographic went to SUVs for the easy of getting into and out of them. This Cross is for the Venza shoppers that would prefer a trunk.