A few days ago, Toyota officially announced the official map of the brand-new crown, which is the first time that the fifteenth generation crown has been changed in Japan for two years.
The new car retains the design of big buck teeth, small slip back and four exhaust ports, and the overall design remains unchanged. However, three styles of car paint have been added, namely white pearl, crazy red and metallic gray. You can imagine from the name that this is a "young sport".
The focus of the new crown adjustment is the interior part. The most conspicuous thing is that the upper and lower split-screen design is cancelled in the central control area, and it is replaced by a 12.3-inch floating screen, which is more in line with the modern trend than the "big TV" of RAV4 and other models. The in-vehicle system supports the interconnection function of Apple CarPlay. The air outlet of the air conditioner has been changed into a horizontal bar style, and the temperature control function key has also been changed into a physical button form.
Compared with the old models, the crown logo on the steering wheel is enlarged to highlight that this is a crown rather than an ordinary Toyota. But the style of the steering wheel is still inseparable from other Toyota models. To exaggerate, if the logo is covered, most people can't see it is a crown.
But it doesn't matter, no matter how COVID-19 changes, it has nothing to do with us. ? Crown officially stopped production on April 28 this year in the context of the continuous decline in sales and the absence of the Bank of China version 6 model. With the 483679th Crown model rolled off the production line at FAW Toyota Tianjin Factory, Yifeng ended Crown's domestic career in China 15, which also indicated that Crown officially bid farewell to the China market.
The first half of my life is scenery.
It has been 65 years since the birth of 1955. Looking back at its original appearance, it became a hit in the high-end market in Japan with the same split door as Rolls-Royce. At that time, Toyota confidently took the original crown to the American market for sale, but because the crown was as narrow as an A-class car, it was "humiliated" to pieces in the American market, which tended to be big cars.
After the American market was frustrated, Toyota Crown decided to specialize in the Asian market dominated by Japan. For a long time, Crown represented the highest level of Toyota, was the flagship car of the family, and was regarded as "the darling of Toyota". As for the century standing at the top of the Toyota family pyramid, it was born just to commemorate the 0/00th anniversary of the brand founder Akio Toyoda, and the century has always been reserved for politicians, which is highly similar to the nature of the domestic red flag. ?
Crown officially became attached to the China market, starting from the fourth generation model. During the period of 1973, there were few domestic high-end cars at that time. In order to meet the reception needs of the Canton Fair, 200 Crown models were launched, which shows how high Crown is in the high-end automobile market. ? Later, in the sixth and seventh generation models, Crown began to be put into use in the domestic taxi market. You know, in the 1970s and 1980s, only "rich people" could afford to take a taxi. If you are lucky enough to sit on them once, it can be said that you are "proud of your ancestors" and being a taxi driver is a prestigious thing. It was also at that time that the luxury car image of Toyota Crown was deeply imprinted in the hearts of Chinese people. ?
No crown after twelve generations?
In 2005, FAW Toyota officially launched the 1st12nd generation Crown, which was the first time that the Crown was produced in a factory outside Japan in 50 years. It is understood that Toyota has set the standard of "starting from scratch" before developing the first 12 generation model, and put aside the inherent thinking of the previous 12 generation model and carried out a thorough reform.
After painful reform, the crown's appearance presents a stable atmosphere, and the package of mahogany and leather inside creates a very warm atmosphere, which is a typical Japanese luxury car. ?
At the same time, Japanese people's understanding of luxury goods is also nuanced. Crown's air conditioning outlet supports left and right automatic air supply, avoiding the discomfort caused by one-way air supply. In order to facilitate the elderly to get on and off the bus, there are two large handrails behind the front seats. The headrest of the passenger seat can be folded forward 90 degrees, thus providing the boss in the back seat with the greatest view.
In addition, the lumbar support of the passenger seat can be removed. After lying flat, the boss in the back seat can put his foot into the passenger seat and give the driver a "smell of his smelly feet", which also shows how low the status of Japanese drivers is. ?
Perhaps it coincides with the realization of domestic production, the price of Crown is reduced, and the product strength is also strong. Crown has reached its peak on the 12 generation model. It is no exaggeration to say that Crown's position in the high-end car market at that time was comparable to BBA, the highest specification Majesta version, equipped with 4.3L? V8 engine, the domestic price reached 890,000 yuan, and even the red flag was taken to "change the shell", which became a prosperous time.
It just didn't last long. The peak of the Crown only lasted for one generation. From the generation of 13, consumers' wallets are more inclined to BBA first-line luxury cars. In the 14 generation, the crown actually used a young and sporty design style, and all the details mentioned above were abandoned. It is no longer the crown that can represent Japanese luxury cars, and it has been spurned by countless fans. Therefore, there is a saying that there is no crown after the twelfth generation.
After the release of18 and 15 crown in Japan, there was no movement of its introduction in China. At this time, the sensitive fans have expected that the brand-new Crown will miss the China market, and the14th generation model will "wander" for a period of time, lasting for one day, until April 28th this year, the Crown chose to "quietly" leave at night.
Or resurrect a corpse?
In fact, as early as two years ago, Toyota applied for a patent drawing of Qvanxian Zhang Crown in China. At that time, some "unwilling to accept the fact" fans comforted themselves with a patent map that their new car was expected to be introduced into China. But in fact, they have tacitly realized the truth of the rumor that "15th generation crown missed the China market".
Toyota, which has always been a "chicken thief", stopped production at Reiz, and the market for Crown became narrower and narrower. A rear-drive production line can only produce one crown. Obviously, building a production line for a car that has no market is an investment that will lose money or make money. For the positioning of the flagship car, Yifeng has long had a plan to "replace the crown with Asian dragons", and judging from the current sales of Asian dragons, it seems that this plan is so successful.
As for applying for patent drawings, it is either to "leave a back road for import" for yourself in the future, or to show off a shot in the China market, just like the recent Toyota GR series conference, which decided to introduce Supra GR without announcing the price? Yaris has no plans to introduce it, but only to "covet us" and treat everyone like monkeys. If you don't know what's going on, you can refer to our previous report.
Recently, however, KOL said that Toyota Crown may be resurrected in China, but not in the form of a car. If the news points to the truth, is it possible for Crown to appear again as a "special offer from China"? In my opinion, it is unlikely. After all, the crown is "Toyota's darling" and must be born and raised. If it is to be transformed into a special car for markets outside the mainland, then Toyota is obviously unwilling.
However, if this car only uses the afterheat of the crown reputation, it is named "Crown XX". For example, the "Crown Comfort" currently serving in Japan and Hong Kong is called "Golden Wind Crown" in the workshop, but its shape and name are like a crown, which has nothing to do with the crown in essence. But even so, there are not a few people who are confused by the golden phoenix crown.
According to this logic, it makes sense for Crown to use this routine when China is resurrected. As for SUV or MPV? Judging from Toyota's popularity in SUVs, a new car is on fire. Will "Crown XX" be dedicated to SUV or stable profit?
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.