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The new Crown sedan which was introduced the day before yesterday seems to be getting interests from maket. The mass media has repeatedly reported that the high class sedan market for Japanese cars was diminishing by the pressure from RV and foreign cars. But Toyota introduced a high class sedan aiming to restore sedan market with a model change of Crown after years.
As I got an invitation from a dealer, I visited a showroom on Friday the day before yesterday. Although the car looked much more round shaped, I did not feel much difference from the old one. But when I sat on the driver seat, I felt something was different. The scale of speedometer will change to digital from analog or vice versa by pushing a button, The customers have been able to select a car with digital speed meter or one with analog meter, So dealers must have stocks of both cars. With this gadget, dealers are able to reduce number of car stock to a half. This gadget might be for dealers not for customers. I checked a car navigator by trying to find a route to my country club. But the guided route on map was different from my usual way which was the fastest route to the destination. The further improvements seem to be needed. In another word, the car navigator might become obsolete faster than car itself.
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While I was listening sales staff talks, I happened to notice that the front view from driver seat became wider. The front view of Celsior is so small that driver feels he is looking outside through a narrow tunnel if you allow me to use extreme expression. This is one of the worst defects of sedan. I discovered what something different was. It is quite strange no description is made on catalog or broachers. If they plan to expect that customers will find the difference themselves, it can be called as extremely high-blown approach to customers.
I can not make any comment on how the feeling of its direct injection six cylinder in line engine is and also its drivability because I have not been able to drive it yet. The strange thing is that any dealer or manufacturer is making every effort to show the car in standstill but not to give positively enough opportunity to customers for test driving. They give only minutes to customers for trial drive around roads near dealers, at the most going a round trip on a circle road of Metropolitan Highway. Not only customers but their sales people are not given the chance for learning its performance and drivability. I have a suggestion to them. That is to have newly introduced cars as rental and customers are given chance for test drive at their own responsibility and with their own expense.
The new car introduction in this fall matched a good timing with the beginning of Japanese economic recovery. A salesman told he felt something creating a great sensation not only among them but also customers. Let's see whether a high class sedan can get a restoration of its right at the market.