Toyota is creating an ultra-luxury Century brand

Toyota Motor has decided to create a separate Century brand that will offer even more luxurious cars than Lexus.

The name Century is familiar inside Japan. The Toyota Century premium sedan has been sold there since 1976. Over the years, the car has changed three generations, and last year it got an older brother - the Century SUV. This car is planned to be exported all over the world.

At the recent Tokyo Motor Show, the company showed the Toyota Century GRMN concept, which is estimated at about $220,000. Forbes journalist attended the presentation of this unique car and learnt from an unnamed Toyota representative that ideally the company wants to call the Century SUV simply "Century", and the four-door version - "Century Sedan".

The brand will reportedly produce even more expensive and impressive cars than Lexus. It remains unclear when and in which countries cars under the separate Century brand will appear. A Toyota spokesperson only confirmed that the SUV will be offered in right and left-hand drive versions for Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas, and that the new model will offer a host of options and upgrades allowing buyers to fully customise their SUVs.

Buyers will have a choice: a standard Century for around $170,000 or a customised GRMN version like the one shown in Tokyo for around $220,000.

Source: Forbes