- The 2025 Crown Signia shines in many ways, such as handling like a sedan, having almost luxurious features inside, and coming standard with all-wheel drive and a strong hybrid motor.
- To my surprise, the word “Signia” is not written on the floor mats, seats, control panels, or metalwork.
- With Crown Signia, Toyota shows that it has the tools, money, and global production network to strengthen its place in a market it already controls.
No one should have been surprised when Toyota said that the Crown, its top-of-the-line car, would get a crossover version that would fit between the RAV4 and the Highlander. Toyota Motor Corp. has as many different types of standard and premium cars as any other automaker in the world.
Could the brand-new 2025 Toyota Crown Signia SUV beat out the Lexus RX in terms of sales? It definitely looks high-end and desirable—for example, the back end looks like a Jaguar E-Pace. Yes, that’s possible, but it’s probably okay because the RX can lose a few sales and still be the clear leader in the midsize luxury SUV market in the US.
Our recent two-lane test drive near San Diego showed that the Crown Signia has nearly luxurious interior features, rides and moves like a sedan, and comes standard with all-wheel drive and a hybrid powertrain that can get over 40 mpg.
With all of these benefits, the beautiful Crown Signia has to compete with 30 other midsize crossovers. Toyota’s marketing machine will have to work extra hard to get it into the top ten sales spots in the country’s biggest car market.
One problem that could happen before this two-row, five-passenger crossover hits shops this summer has to do with the car’s name: It’s called the Crown Signia, but there are no “Signia” logos on the floor mats, seats, headrests, instrument panel, or metal.
The only word that will show up on the liftgate is “Crown,” which is the name of the car for sale. Do you feel you need help? I agree, yes. The people in charge are the first ones to know what’s going on. Akio Toyoda, Chairman of Toyota, thinks that the Crown, which has been around since 1955, is the company’s most important car.
A few years ago, when the brand-new Crown was being made, he said that the car and crossover should be considered the same, like two very close brothers with very similar engines and interiors.
Good luck to the product team as they follow their boss’s orders, which are hard to market because most people would only understand the Signia if they really liked the Toyota name. The good news is that the car company will give different sales numbers for the Crown Signia and the sedan. Once you get past the strange name, you’ll find a good SUV that looks better inside and out than the Toyota Venza it replaces.
The Venza was introduced in 2008 as a more high-end option to the RAV4. However, sales of only 61,000 units in the US during its peak year of 2021 did not materialize. To put things in perspective, Toyota sold 435,000 RAV4s in 2023, making it the best-selling midsize SUV in a market that produced over 3.2 million cars that year.
You can now buy the Crown Signia. It will compete with crossovers like the RAV4, Chevy Equinox, Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, Hyundai Santa Fe, Mazda CX-5, Nissan Rogue, and Subaru Forester.
Will more people buy the Venza than the Crown Signia?
It most likely could. It’s a reliable driver that builds on Toyota’s well-known hybrid technology: The Crown Signia is a hybrid car from the fourth generation. It has 240 horsepower. It has a 2.5-liter, four-cylinder engine that makes 188 horsepower and switches between two electric motor generators for job cycles. It has wheels that are up to 21 inches in diameter and are driven by a CVT.
Based on the specs, going from 0 to 60 mph with the throttle wide open will take more than 7 seconds. However, the Crown Signia can easily pass or move onto an interstate. Owners will be very happy with the combined EPA gas mileage rate of 38 mpg.
Because it only has one engine and two trim levels (Limited and XLE), Toyota’s Tsutsumi Plant in Aichi, Japan, can make cars more quickly. The TNGA-K base is the same for both the sedan and the Signia. The Crown car is two inches longer than the Crown Signia, which is two inches taller.
Like the car, the Signia’s interior looks great at first glance, with soft surfaces, high-quality materials, leather-trimmed seats, bronze-finished trim, and heated and cooled front seats as standard.
This cabin clearly shows that the company is working to improve the Toyota name. The marketing team calls this calm, roomy cabin “sophisticated,” “prestigious,” “elegance,” and “luxe appeal,” which suggests that it’s better for off-road trips on the weekends than for commuting in the city or suburbs.
Standard features include Bluetooth wireless connection, a 12.3-inch color Multi-Information Display that can be changed, and voice commands that start with “Hey Toyota” to call up a virtual assistant.
Don’t forget about the Lexus NX, which is another Toyota Group product. It’s a bit smaller than the RX and starts at less than $40,000, even though it’s a luxury name. Toyota wants to make the Crown Signia a more high-end car.
On the other hand, the Crown Signia’s price shows that, at least in this market group, the Toyota and Lexus brands are very similar. Prices for the XLE grade start at $44,985, which includes delivery fees. Prices for the Limited grade start at $49,385. By the way, the Lexus RX starts at $49,950, which supports the idea of cross-brand price. With Crown Signia, Toyota shows that it has the tools, money, and global production network to strengthen its place in a market it already controls.
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