The answer is… the 2025 Toyota Crown Signia

The Crown Signia might be the answer to a question nobody asked.

It straddles the border between crossover and wagon, between Toyota and Lexus. Toyota calls it a crossover, with a raised roof and tailgate, but the low roofline and overall design speak wagon to me. It is ostensibly a replacement for the Venza.

The Crown name goes back decades. In fact, the car that picked me up at the airport on my first trip to Japan in the late seventies, was a spacious black Toyota Crown four-door sedan.

The Crown name has appeared on numerous Toyota vehicles over the years, most recently on the 2023 Crown sedan.

The Toyota Crown Signia is an all-new product for the 2025 model year.

It is based on the K-version (one of five) of the modular TNGA global architecture found beneath numerous Toyota and Lexus vehicles.

The Crown Signia is available in one trim only in Canada – loaded. It has a panoramic sunroof, leather interior, heated tilt & telescope steering wheel, height-adjustable hands-free power tailgate, 21-in alloy wheels, eight-way heated and ventilated power front seats with memory, heated outboard second row seats, Qi charger for smart phones and a washer for the rear-view camera.

The powertrain choice is easy – there isn’t one. The Crown Signia, like most Toyotas, is a hybrid.

A 2.5 litre gasoline engine is paired with a trio of electric motors. One serves dual purposes – as a generator driven by the engine to charge the 230-volt nickel-metal-hydride battery under the rear seats, and act as the starter.

The second motor is also multi-talented. It drives the front wheels, acts as a generator when coasting or braking, charging the battery. It also allows silent electric motivation only at low speeds.

The third motor drives the rear wheels, allowing all-wheel-drive. It too can help charge the battery when the vehicle is coasting or the brakes are applied.

While all this sounds, and is, immensely complicated, it is perfectly seamless and ultra-reliable.

Millions of kilometres as taxis and other constantly-in-use vehicles attest to Toyota’s hybrid expertise. Front-wheel-drive most of the time, the system can divert as much as 80% of available power to the rear wheels when needed.

The Toyota Crown Signia is innovative and thrifty, but not exciting.

A total of 265 horsepower and 320 lb. ft. of torque are available. But they have to cope with more than two tonnes of weight – the downside of big batteries. The upside is the torque available from the electric motors from rest, making getting underway effortless.

Continuous application of wide-open throttle while passing or accelerating brings the usual groans and moans associated with continuously variable automatic transmissions.

Appreciate the silence and the spaciousness

That is the only time you are aware of extraneous sounds in the Crown Signia. Thanks to steps like acoustic glass on the front windows, and numerous sound absorbing materials, both road and wind noise are all but eliminated. That allows you to appreciate the silence of electric power.

Getting in and out is easy, despite the low roofline.

Seating is spacious and comfortable in all positions and visibility good, except for the rear quarters.

There are more hard and black interior surfaces than I would like in such an otherwise luxurious interior. Thankfully that is offset by soft touch leather surfaces.

There are a pair of 31-cm screens, one for the driver and the other for infotainment.  The latter handles navigation and controls the 11-speaker JBL audio system. That same screen monitors energy flow.

A console mounted knob allows the driver to select from Custom, Sport, Normal or Eco drive modes, saving you time.

This is a Toyota, so safety features – both active and passive are plentiful.

Blind spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert are standard along with Toyota Safety Sense 3.0. That brings automatic emergency braking, traffic sign recognition, automatic high beams, adaptive cruise control, and lane keeping with lane centering.

There has been a Toyota Crown for more than seven decades.

The Crown name is now attached to a pair of premium vehicles straddling the line between Toyota and Lexus. Both the sedan and the new two-row, five passenger ‘wagon’ offer elevated seating positions, all-wheel-drive and hybrid powertrains.

There really is no obvious competition.

More from Lisa Calvi on the Toyota Crown Signia here.

FACTS & FIGURES – 2025 Toyota Crown Signia Limited

PRICE

Base: $57,450

As tested: $61,586 including freight

SAFETY

LED headlights with automatic high beams, lane departure alert, lane trace and road-sign assist, pre-collision system, smart stop technology

INFOTAINMENT

31-cm TFT infotainment screen, 11-speaker JBL audio system, three USB-C ports in front seat and two in the rear

STANDARD EQUIPMENT

Power windows and locks, heated tilt & telescope steering wheel, height-adjustable hands-free power tailgate, 21-in alloy wheels, fixed glass panoramic moonroof with power sunshade, cargo area tonneau cover, power folding mirrors with blind spot warning and turn indicators, eight-way heated and ventilated power front seats with memory, heated outboard second row seats, digital mirror with garage door opener, dual zone automatic climate control, Qi charger for smart phones, rear camera washer

SIGNIFICANT OPTIONS

Advanced Technology Package (Panoramic view monitor, lane change and traffic jam assist, front cross-traffic alert, rear park assist with automatic braking, puddle lights and reverse tilt down mirrors), $2,075

MECHANICAL

Turbocharged 2.5-litre four-cylinder, 265-horsepower, 310 lb.-ft. of torque, regular fuel, three electric motors, Continuously Variable Automatic transmission, all-wheel-drive. NRCan rating (litres/100km city/highway): 6.0/6.4

DIMENSIONS

Length, x-mm; width, 1,880 mm; wheelbase, 2,850 mm

COMPETITION

Chevrolet Blazer EV, Honda Passport, Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid, Mazda CX-70