Toyota is unveiling the Century SUV on September 6, 2023

This year, Toyota has officially announced the development of an SUV variant for its prestigious Century luxury sedan. The automotive giant announced this big development alongside the launch of the new Alphard and Veilfire vans. It seems that Toyota is using the same strategy it did with the Crown by expanding the nameplate to other body styles. Much like the Crown, Toyota is adding an SUV version but with the much more prestigious Century.

During the announcement of the Century SUV, Toyota remained tight-lipped about the specifics surrounding the upcoming SUV. Journalists caught a glimpse of its outline during the live debut of the new luxury MPVs, however, that was as much info as Toyota was willing to provide. Now, a few months later, Toyota has put out a notice on a new car presentation on September 6, 2023.  

Though the automaker hasn't explicitly outlined the content of the unveiling, our minds strongly point toward the Century SUV as the focal point. This assumption is drawn from the teaser image they have shared, which features a glove-wearing chauffeur about to open the rear door of a high-riding vehicle. The Century has always been a vehicle for the rich and affluent people of the world and as such has always been a chauffeur-driven vehicle. For the SUV version, it’s no different.

According to automotive news sources, the powertrain for the upcoming SUV will possibly be derived from a plug-in hybrid configuration taken from the Lexus TX 550h+. This powertrain setup features an electrified 3.5-liter V6 engine that generates a combined power output of 406 hp. To provide a bit of background as to why this is important, the Century sedan, in its current iteration, is offered with a V8 engine, whereas the generation it replaced had a mighty V12 engine. It should also be noted that Toyota never offered a V12 engined vehicle aside from the Century

All the burning questions we have will be answered soon enough as the Century SUV will make its debut in a few days. What is certain though is that the SUV version of the Century will not be priced higher than the sedan version of the Century.