Car Buying Guide: What Is Toyota’s Luxury Brand?
There’s no doubt that Toyota is one of the most popular automotive manufacturers in the world today. The company has manufactured a long list of unique car brands, most of which are luxury cars found on many roads around the world.
So, what is Toyota’s luxury brand? This article discusses the most popular luxury car brands produced by Toyota.
Toyota Introduction
As noted above, Toyota is one of the largest and most popular automotive manufacturers in the world, churning out over 10 million vehicles every year. The company was established by a Japanese businessman, Kiichiro Toyoda. Kiichiro was the son of Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyoda Loom Works, which specialized in the production of the automatic loom.
In 1937, Kiichiro, who had inherited Toyoda Loom Works from his father decided to switch from making automatic looms to automobiles. This gave rise to what is now referred to as Toyota Motor Corporation. The two companies form the larger Toyota Group, one of the world’s biggest corporations.
In 1934, Toyota developed its first product – the type A engine. Two years later, the company produced its first passenger automobile, the Toyota AA. As the Second World War ended, Toyota became the biggest beneficiary of the healthy relationship between Japan and the United States of America because it learned a lot from the American automakers.
The company used the newly acquired ideas to develop the Toyota Way (its management philosophy) and the Toyota Production System (its modest manufacturing practice). These lessons helped to transform the company into a leading corporation in the automotive industry. Since its inception, Toyota has been a major topic of countless academic studies around the world.
Toyota’s fortunes started growing rapidly in the early 1960s when Japan’s economy made a significant leap from a low-class economy to a developing middle-class economy. It was around this time that the company produced the Toyota Corolla brand, which became an instant success.
This car brand was accepted globally, allowing Toyota to tap into the global market thus becoming the 9th largest company in the globe by revenue. In 2012, Toyota became the first automobile company to produce 10 million cars annually. The same year, the company hit the 200 million mark, in terms of vehicle production.
Toyota is regarded as the leader in the production and sale of fuel-efficient vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. Its first hybrid electric car brand was Toyota Prius, which was developed in 1997. Today, the company produces over 40 hybrid vehicle models that are sold and driven in different parts of the world.
What Is Toyota’s Luxury Car?
A Toyota luxury car is any type of car developed by Toyota with the aim of providing you with extra comfort, quality, performance, amenities, features, and a higher status compared to ordinary cars.
However, the term luxury car is subjective as it can imply the quality of the car or the image of the brand. Nonetheless, Toyota luxury cars are ranked higher than top brands, although there isn’t a definite distinction between the two.
In the past, most luxury car brands were considered to be large vehicles like vans, SUVs, etc. However, Toyota and other car manufacturers are now producing smaller luxury vehicles like hatchbacks and sports-oriented cars. You can also find smaller luxury cars with off-road capabilities.
Ordinarily, most luxury cars are built for more comfort and safety, with Toyota introducing highly advanced safety and comfort technologies on its latest luxury models.
In the past, the company only produced expensive luxury brands, but it has since started to develop more affordable luxury models. Most of its luxury vehicles are status symbols designed for eye-catching consumption.
Their suspension systems are tweaked to put more emphasis on ride quality over handling. Most Toyota luxury cars come with large engines like V8 and V12 and use all-wheel drive. But you can also find some luxury brands that use front-engine, rear-wheel drive (FR).
Does Toyota Offer Any Luxury Cars?
If you’re looking for a Toyota luxury car and you aren’t sure whether the company offers any luxury cars, you’ve come to the right place. First of all, Toyota has a collection of luxury brands that are sold around the world. Most of these brands feature complete lineups of popular cars, including SUVs, saloons, sedans, coupes, hybrids, and mini-vans.
However, some luxury cars produced by Toyota are a bit tricky because some people may consider them luxury while others may not. To clear up this confusion, this article provides you with a list of top Toyota luxury car brands.
Toyota Luxury Car Brands
1. Toyota Avalon
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Toyota is a standard sedan manufactured by Toyota. The first Toyota Avalon car was produced in 1994 in Georgetown, Kentucky. It’s the largest front-wheel sedan manufactured by Toyota and it serves as the company’s flagship car in the U.S., Canada, the Middle East, and China.
The company marketed this luxury brand as a replacement for the Cressida, which was withdrawn from the American market in 1992. The Cressida was an upper-level mid-size rear-wheel drive sedan with a straight-six engine. The Avalon, on the other hand, is front-wheel drive with a V6 engine. Other features of Toyota Avalon include
• Leather-trimmed seats and soft-touch materials
• Power rear window sunshade
• HD predictive traffic
• Premium heated and cooled seats
• Rain-sensing windshield wipers
2. Toyota Land Cruiser
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The Toyota Land Cruiser brand is the company’s 70 series which was developed in 1984. This family of vehicles comprises a full lineup of luxury models most of which are designed for off-road cruising. The 70 series replaced the 40 series as the off-road model of the Toyota Land Cruiser.
Despite the major adjustments in styling and technological update, the 70 series retained the off-road capabilities and resilience of its predecessor.
Toyota Land Cruiser is split into two unique lines, with one putting more emphasis on luxurious, passenger-oriented design, while the other one remains a no-nonsense and functional vehicle. However, both are dedicated to similar principles as they were a century ago.
The 70 series comes in various models, including single-cab and dual-cab chassis, wagons, troop carrier wagons, SUVs, and Range Rovers. Most Land Cruiser models are 4X4 and come with V8 engines. Other unique features of a Toyota Land Cruiser include
• Leather-trimmed and heated steering wheel
• Ventilated and heated seats
• Center console cooler box
• Multi-terrain monitor
• Rear-seat DVD entertainment system
3. Toyota Lexus
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The first Toyota Lexus car was developed in 1989 by Eiji Toyoda, the chairman, and president of Toyota Group. This car brand is now sold across 90 countries and it’s Japan’s biggest-selling make of luxury cars. It’s the tenth-largest Japanese car brand in the global market.
The Lexus brand was born out of a corporate project to produce a new first-class sedan, code-named F1 in 1983. This ended with the launch of Lexus LS in 1989. Later, the brand added other popular models like sedans, convertibles, SUVs, and coupes.
However, Lexus wasn’t considered a car brand in Japan until 2005. All vehicles in this division released from 1989 to 2005 were marketed under the Toyota brand and a corresponding model name. The hybrid style of the Lexus RX crossover was released in 2005, followed by other hybrid models in subsequent releases.
In 2007, Lexus released its own F marque performance category by introducing the IS F sport sedan and the subsequent launch of the LFA supercar two years later. The Lexus LX car features a 5663 cc petrol engine and a ground clearance of 225mm. It’s an eight-seater, eight-cylinder car with a wheelbase of 2850mm. Other features of a Lexus car include:
• Power steering
• Power windows front
• Multi-function steering wheel
• Fog lights
• Anti-lock braking system
• All-wheel drive
• Double wishbone with stabilizer
• Automatic climate control
• Remote trunk opener
• Active noise cancellation
4. Toyota Camry
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The Toyota Camry brand was established in 1982 and spans multiple generations. Initially, this car was compact, but it has since grown to join the mid-size category. Toyota markets the Camry brand as its second “global car” after Corolla.
In Japan and other parts of Asia, this car brand occupies the high end of the market, and it’s priced slightly below the basic German luxury vehicles. It features a 3.5-liter V6 engine, a comfortable interior, and angular styling.
5. Toyota Crown
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The Toyota Crown brand has been in existence since 1955. This division comprises a full lineup of mid-size luxury cars sold as a high-class offering. It holds the peculiarity of being the oldest passenger-car nameplate attached to any Toyota model.
The Toyota Crown brand is one of the very few cars with a navigation or artificial intelligence-adaptive variable suspension system, a 3D satellite navigation system, and a G-Book. The system adjusts the damper firmness for corners using the information provided on the map and changes transmission gear shift timings and engine braking for assimilation on and off the highway and oncoming tollbooths.
