- Toyota will bring its ultra-luxury Century brand to the U.S. to challenge Rolls-Royce and Bentley
- The Century brand is well known in Asia, but it will be new here
Americans will begin seeing an unfamiliar brand of ultra-luxury car on the streets in the next few years. It will come from a company they know well.
Toyota used this week’s Japan Mobility Show to announce that it will bring its Century brand to the U.S.
Americans know the Toyota Motor Corp. for two car brands — its namesake mainstream Toyota brand and its Lexus luxury arm. However, the company has other brands overseas, ranging from budget maker Daihatsu to Rolls-Royce rival Century.
Since the 1960s, the Century name has adorned Toyota’s most luxurious creations. Company Chairman Akio Toyoda told reporters this week, “The Century stands at the pinnacle, a car in a class of its own.”
Century cars, industry publication Automotive News explains, “Have historically carried Japan’s royal family and its top dignitaries within a silent cocoon of craftsmanship and attention to the finest detail.”
Today, Toyota builds a 4-door Century sedan that rivals the Rolls-Royce Ghost and a Century SUV meant to equal the Bentley Bentayga. The company also plans a 2-door Century Coupe similar to the Bentley Continental GT.
A Separate Space Within Some Lexus Dealerships
- A broad plan calls for Century sections carved out in certain Lexus dealerships
- Toyota learned from successful and unsuccessful brand launches in the U.S. before
Automotive News reports that Century vehicles “will be carried in certain Lexus dealerships” within the next few years, where they “won’t carry the Lexus name.” Instead, dealerships will carve out a separate space to sell Century vehicles as a third Toyota brand.
A company spokesperson said it was “way, way, way too soon to discuss Century” in detail but confirmed the broad outlines of the plan.
The company has both successful and unsuccessful brand launches to learn from.
Lexus itself was the result of a similar effort in the early 1990s. Since its arrival, it has been America’s best-selling luxury marque. Its RX SUV has been the most popular luxury vehicle in the U.S. for more than a decade.
However, the plan to set aside part of a dealership for a second brand also resembles Toyota’s abortive effort to create a low-cost Scion brand aimed at younger buyers. The company set aside space in Toyota dealerships to sell lower-cost Scion cars from 2003 to 2016, when it folded the brand due to low sales.
