Just take one look at Toyota’s new ultra-luxurious Century SUV and you could be forgiven for thinking that Japan’s No 1 carmaker is trying to compete with Rolls Royce. Because it is.
The all-new Century SUV is marginally smaller than a Rolls Royce Cullinan, employs a 3.5-liter V6 plug-in hybrid engine compared to the Rolls’ 6.7-liter V12, offers almost identical levels of luxury and plushness, but will land in showrooms for less than half the Cullinan’s price. That’s right, the Century SUV will retail at around 25 million yen, or around $170,000 at today’s exchange rate, in contrast to the Cullinan’s starting price of around $390,000.
Now although Toyota will never say that their new super luxurious SUV is a direct Cullinan competitor, the Japanese brand will, for the first time, be marketing the luxury crossover outside of Japan. So, in the real world, the Century SUV will compete with the Cullinan in certain markets including the Middle East.
Aesthetic impressions are subjective of course, but dare we say it—we feel that the Century SUV is as well-proportioned as the Cullinan but its front end is sharper, better looking and less ostentatious. This is definitely a step in the right direction because the Century sedan, throughout its 55 year history and three generations, has changed very little in the design department—continuing to look very much like a Japanese version of a Russian Zil limousine.
Read more on Forbes News
Source: Forbes News
