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Toyota Motors revives its iconic Crown model in South Korea, marking its first return after a 51-year absence. The 2023 Crown, shifting from its original sedan format, arrives as a crossover utility vehicle equipped with a hybrid engine aimed at re-engaging the Korean market.
The automaker brought back its luxury Toyota Crown to increase sales by winning back Korean customers. But while the original Crown is a sedan type of vehicle, this time, the newest edition is a crossover utility vehicle with a hybrid engine. This CUV was described as a blending of an SUV and a four-door sedan body that is propelled by an all-wheel-drive hybrid powertrain.
The Crown is Toyota Motor's longest-running passenger car, and the 2023 model has a bigger interior and extensive views similar to the sports utility vehicles, but the CUV is lighter. Korea Joongang Daily mentioned that the brand's Crown model has been around for 69 years already, and it was the first mass-produced unit from Toyota.
"As sales of SUVs are on the rise in Korea, we brought in the crossover version as the first model," Toyota Motor Korea's managing director, Lee Byung Jin, said during a recent press event that took place in Seoul.
The Crown CUV comes in two types, and these are the 2.4-liter dual boost gasoline hybrid engine and the 2.5-liter gasoline hybrid engine. They are priced at KRW65 million and KRW57 million or $43,000, respectively.
Toyota Motor Korea is hoping that the return of its flagship Crown model in the country will help augment boost sales which have been weakened by the tension between Korea and Japan. Thus, with the improved bilateral relations between the countries, Toyota is looking for a turnaround.
"The Korean market is both worthy of investment and challenging because many customers are car enthusiasts who have high standards," Yonhap News Agency quoted Toyota Korea's chief executive officer, Konyama Manabu, as saying. "Compared to 2022, the situation has improved for Toyota and Lexus, which sold a combined 8,000 units in the January-May period this year."
Photo by: Sadman Nafis/Unsplash
