Toyota announced today that the redesigned Toyota Crown, Royal Saloon and Athlete versions, will go on sale in Japan today and they�ve also announced the new Crown Hybrid, which will be launched on May 9. The Crown Royal Saloon and the Crown Athlete will be available with V6 3.0 liter and V6 2.5 liter engine, mated to a 6 Super ECT (Super Intelligent Electronically-controlled, Six-speed Automatic Transmission) and DRAMS (Driving Response and Acceleration Management System). All engines feature Dual VVT-i (Dual Variable Valve Timing Intelligent) to optimize intake and exhaust valve timing according to driving conditions.
The Toyota Crown Hybrid features rear-wheel drive THS II (Toyota Hybrid System II) with a two-stage motor speed reduction which �provides the driving performance of a 4.5-liter vehicle with the low fuel consumption of a 2.0-liter vehicle�. The propulsion system features a combination of a 3.5-liter V6 gasoline engine with a high-performance electric motor. Also, by pressing a button, the vehicle will only use the electric engine.
Toyota hopes to sell monthly 5,500 units, including 800 hybrid cars. Click �read more� to see more details on the Toyota Crown in the full press release and to check out more photos of the car.