Al-Futtaim Toyota yesterday launched the all-new Toyota Crown in the UAE, exuding an aura of luxury and equipped with hybrid turbo powertrains and the latest Toyota Safety Sense.

In the early years of this millennia, you could still see a couple of those glorious Toyota Cressidas and Crowns plying the back roads of Dubai’s business districts, their dashboards often caped with ostentatious red velvet by self-appointed taxi drivers to underline their cars’ luxury to those hitching a ride. They are long gone. But now, the Crown is back, officially. In a more elegant statement of luxury than those poor fellas ever made it out to be.

The Crown was launched in 1955 and arrived on the UAE shores as early as 1960. It was here till 2000 officially before bidding goodbye to the Emirates. Al-Futtaim Toyota has brought back the Toyota Crown, now in its the 16th generation. It is ready to claim its flagship spot with a bold new design, powerful hybrid acceleration, and premium comfort worthy of a luxury badge.

The Crown was born in 1955 as the “Toyopet Crown,” Toyota’s first mass-produced passenger vehicle. It has since been considered Toyota’s luxury sedan and inspired the Lexus to a certain extent. The Crown was also the first Japanese sedan to enter the Middle East market. The badge was available here from 1960 to 2000. Across its 15 generations, the Crown has held ‘innovation’ and ‘pushing the limits’ as its core values of development and that is true for the new car shaped by the Toyota planning, design and engineering team. According to the press release, the new Toyota Crown “throws off the conventional concepts of a sedan and takes it into a new era.” The modern Crown happens to be a Hybrid Electric Vehicle.

Jacques Brent, Managing Director of Al-Futtaim Toyota & Lexus: “We are thrilled to announce the return of the legend and introduce the highly-anticipated All-New Toyota Crown to the United Arab Emirates. Built to deliver an intuitive driving experience, this premium new vehicle brings powerful acceleration and confident handling, along with supreme comfort for a sophisticated ride, all wrapped in a bold new design. Introducing the Crown with hybrid electric powertrains further demonstrates our wholehearted dedication to achieving carbon neutrality in line with the UAE’s Net Zero 2050 objectives.” In the words of Akihiro Sarada, Chief Engineer in charge of development, “…the Crown has always held a special place as Toyota’s flagship model, captivating customers worldwide. Drawing inspiration from its illustrious heritage, we infused this new model with cutting-edge technology and advanced features, all while upholding the highest standards of ride comfort, safety, manoeuvrability, and driving performance.”

So, how does passion and innovation shape the new Crown. Let’s take a closer look.

Is it really the return or advent of the Crown?

It would be right to say a bit of both. The luxury and flagship qualities that have maintained the halo of the Crown is at the core of the new product too, as it takes over as the new flagship, replacing the large and luxurious Avalon. However, the new Crown looks beyond its traditional sedan form and offerings to please SUV buyers as well with a principally higher driving stance and the three-box layout. (So, it is not just a mindless badge replacement for Avalon, considering the tapering demand for sedans, particularly full-size sedans.)

A new engine, electrically charged

The all-new Toyota Crown is equipped with a Hybrid Turbo powertrain. Among the powertrains on offer from the company, what we get in the Middle East is the top-end combination, which makes up their platinum trim internationally. Its hybrid electric components are Toyota’s first-ever 2.4-litre inline four-cylinder turbo engine, mated to a direct shift 6-speed automatic transmission, and a high output water-cooled electric motor powering the rear wheel eAxle. They provide a thrilling throttle response with a combined power of 345hp and 550Nm of torque while returning best-in-class fuel economy figures at 18.0km/l.

As demanded by the driving style and speed, the new Toyota Crown can be driven entirely on electrical ‎power with zero fuel consumption and tailpipe emissions, or by combining the power generated from both the petrol ‎engine and the electric motor. As is characteristic to Toyota’s hybrid-electric vehicles, these get charged on the run and don’t require plug-in charging. The batteries are continuously charged by either the petrol ‎engine or through energy recuperation while decelerating and braking. So, it drives and fuels like a regular petrol-powered car and doesn’t even require any special grade of fuel.

The new Toyota Crown is built around the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA-K) platform, which was introduced with the new 2018 Camry. This delivers excellent body rigidity and a low centre of gravity resulting in a more rewarding driving experience. The vehicle features a new MacPherson strut-type suspension at the front and a new multi-link suspension system at the rear, providing luxury-class stability and ride comfort befitting the brand’s new flagship.

I am waiting for the test drive but, going by the way the new generation Camry drives, greatly optimistic about the different driving modes, NORMAL, ECO, SPORT, SPORT+ (the latter promising enhanced steering response, flat cornering and a sense of stability). The CUSTOM mode allows drivers to adjust system settings individually to their exact driving habits.

Flagship level of luxury

The new Crown’s cabin is elevated by many advanced features with a 12.3-inch multimedia touchscreen at the centre, which is Apple CarPlay® and Android Auto™ compatible and affords a choice of 12 patterns on the TFT colour meter. The cabin has rich comfort tech including a colour head-up display (HUD), dual-zone air conditioning with rear AC vents, a 11-speaker JBL surround sound system, a panoramic roof, multi-adjustable power and ventilated front seats, and 60/40 split and reclining rear seats. The convenience extends to hands-free trunk opening that can be activated by swinging one’s foot under the rear bumper.

Charging convenience includes a vertical slip-in type wireless Qi charger for improved space efficiency. There is also a standard USB-Type A and 12V charging port inside the console, while a separate dual USB-Type C terminal is standard, with the insertion port designed to face the passenger seat. Two USB-Type C ports are standard for the rear riders.

A reassuring Toyota Safety Sense

Drivers are assured of complete peace of mind with Toyota Safety Sense, an advanced safety and driver assistance system that includes a Pre-Collision System (PCS) with an expanded detection range for vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcycles, together with new features such as Automatic Emergency Brake, Emergency Steering Assist and Acceleration Suppression at Low Speed.

The system also includes all-speed range Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (DRCC), which is a step up from Adaptive Cruise Control with an additional range of useful features. Among these are Turn Signal Control (TSC), which enhances highway overtaking safety and smoothness by providing an initial increase in acceleration when the driver engages the turn signal, and Curve Speed Reduction that suppresses the vehicle’s speed when entering a bend (especially helpful in the night when the driver could be slow in realising that the car is approaching a bend) and offers additional acceleration upon exiting (they sound very intuitive – can’t wait to feel those on a test drive!). Drivers can also benefit from Lane Tracing Alert (LTA), Lane Departure Alert (LDA), and Adaptive High-beam System (AHS).  The new Crown also comes with Toyota’s first-ever Safe Exit Assist (SEA), which uses the Blind Spot Monitor (BSM) to help prevent a collision during door-opening. It detects approaching traffic or cyclists from the rear and automatically cancels any attempt by a passenger to open a door. Vehicle Stability Control (VSC), Traction Control (TRC), Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), Brake Assist (BA), Parking Assist Monitor (PAM), Parking Support Brake (PKSB), Rear Cross-Traffic Alert (RCTA), Drive-Start Control (DSC), Panoramic View Monitor (PVM), Rear Camera Cleaning System, and Hill-start Assist Control (HAC) are all part of the legion of safety features apart from 8 SRS airbags.

Looking good is part of the job

New Toyota Crown’s elegant exterior design is characterised by its simplicity and modernity. Bold front design sees the daytime running light design harmonising with the narrow, elongated headlights with the wide front grille. In the rear, the sleek and sideways extension of the lights gives it a wider look and a touch of refinement.

From the elegant metal accents to its luxurious new additions like the comfort grips fitted behind the front seats for the rear passengers, the interiors impress with thoughtful details. The curved shape of the instrument panel provides the driver with optimum focus while the vehicle’s unique height provides a better view of the road, as well as easy entry and exit.

The Toyota Crown has been introduced in seven exterior colours – Precious White Pearl, Precious Silver, Precious Metal, Massive Gray, Black, Emotional Red II, and Precious Bronze. They can be further personalised with several dual-tone variants that allow a combination with black for instance. The interiors are richly appointed in either fromage or black (for those who like me didn’t know the former, it is a colour closer to pale yellow cream of a cheese). The new Crown stands tall with a 21-inch machine finished black aluminium wheel design in its top trim.

All-new Toyota Crown price in the UAE: XLE is from AED 199,900 onwards and Platinum is from AED 229,900 onwards