In an attempt to stimulate the market for large passenger cars, Toyota Motor Corp. on Friday launched a fully remodeled lineup of its flagship luxury sedan, the Crown.
The new Crown models are the Crown Royal, Crown Athlete and Crown Majesta. The Crown Athlete is a new series aimed at luring customers in their 30s and 40s, a generation younger than current Crown drivers, the officials said.
The new models will have engine displacements of 2,500cc, 3000cc and 4,000cc and price tags between 3.1 million yen and 5.6 million yen. Toyota hopes to sell 8,500 units a month, mainly in the domestic market.
Although Toyota owns about a 70 percent share of the domestic large passenger car market, total sales of the segment have been declining due to slack demand and the highly popular sport utility vehicles.
Toyota has sold more than 4 million Crowns since its debut in 1955, and the new Crown -- the first full model change in four years and one month -- represents the car's 11th generation, according to the company.