Toyota Crown goes on sale in South Africa
Prashirwin Naidu
The Japanese car manufacturer will bring the luxury sedan Toyota Crown to South Africa by the end of the year with a price tag of under R1 million.
Already the best-selling manufacturer in South Africa, according to naamsa, the Automotive Business Council, Toyota will cement its status when the Crown arrives in the country later in the year.
According to vehicle information specialists Duoporta, the hybrid Crown will be available only in one trim. It will be fitted with the trinkets and bells one would associate with a premium car and a highly-powered battery drivetrain.
While the Crown has been part of the Toyota DNA since the mid-fifties, it will be the first time it arrives in South Africa.
According to Toyota, the Crown will be powered by a 2.5-litre petrol-hybrid drivetrain incorporating a bipolar nickel-hydrogen battery. They say this is similar to the RAV4 E-Four.
Mighty powerful, one would get 176 kilowatts pushed out from the 2.5-litre petrol motor, working hand-in-hand with the electric motor on each axle.
Fuel consumption is said to be frugal at 4.4l/100km. Regarding top speed, it clocks 180km/h, although with the speed limit in South Africa legislated at 120 km/h, one will certainly not push it that far or fast.
It’s mated with a CVT transmission; it offers a few driving modes one could choose from a pure-electric drive mode, Eco, Sport and a Normal configuration.
As you would expect with luxury cars, the Crown will boast a few niceties. It comes with heated, ventilated, and electric leather seats, dual-zone climate control, a digital instrument cluster, a touchscreen infotainment system with smartphone mirroring and navigation, keyless entry and start, an electronically adjustable steering column, an electric tailgate, a sunroof, and 19-inch alloy wheels.
It will also come with automatic LED lights with high-beam assist, rain-sensing wipers, adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitoring, a 360-degree camera system, front and rear parking sensors, and seven airbags.
The Crown measures 1,840mm long and 1,540mm tall, totalling 4,980mm. Boot space offers up to 433 litres of capacity.
The price of the Crown includes the 3-year/100,000km vehicle warranty, an 8-year/195,000km battery warranty, and a 6-services/90,000km service plan.
Price will be subject to currency fluctuation, depending on how the rand is faring when it arrives. For now, budget a few rands under a million.
