By Nick Syn

BORNEO MOTORS HELD a launch party for the new Royal Crown sedan at its Alexandra Road showroom early this month.

The new flagship of the Toyota range is available in Luxury and Super Luxury versions, and in terms of pricing, the new Royal Crown easily wades into entry-level Lexus territory at $177,888 with COE for the basic model at launch time. The price has since risen by $4,000, after the end of an early bird promotion.

The last Royal Crown was notable for being a perennial company car favourite among Japanese expatriates, although slicker styling and a plethora of features should go a long way to helping this new model appeal to a much broader segment of the market.

According to Borneo Motors, the Royal Crown’s launch event netted four confirmed orders, and interest has been generally high with 10 models registered so far.

The Royal Crown shares platforms (or major underpinnings) and its engine with the upcoming Lexus GS300, which is due to be launched here in March.