New Crown Launched as Toyota's First-Generation Connected Car

Tokyo, June 26 (Jiji Press)--Toyota Motor Corp. <7203> launched Tuesday the fully redesigned Crown luxury sedan as the automaker's first-generation connected car with the permanent hookup with the Internet. Through the first full model changeover in five and a half years, the 15th-generation Crown comes with Toyota's standard connectivity technology for its vehicles and enables services focused on safety, comfort and convenience, the company claims. Such services include diagnosing driving tendencies and giving safety driving advice, as well as providing maintenance guidance based on information transmitted from the vehicle. The new Crown also allows drivers to set destinations by using the Line smartphone communication app and receive voice information about areas near destinations. Toyota aims to equip almost of all its passenger cars sold in Japan and the United States with the connected functions by 2020. "From now on, cars are required to not only run well but get connected," Toyota President Akio Toyoda said at a press conference in Tokyo. The new Crown is priced at between 4,606,200 yen and 7,187,400 yen. Toyota also rolled out the Corolla Sport, the first hatchback model in 17 years in the mainstay Corolla lineup, as a connected car. Its prices range from 2,138,400 yen to 2,689,200 yen. END