The local future of Toyota’s Century brand – designed to compete against the likes of Rolls-Royce and Bentley – will rest on the shoulders of Lexus Australia, despite Century sitting above it in the corporate hierarchy.
Toyota’s head of sales and marketing, Sean Hanley, admitted Century was under consideration for Australia, following the expansion of the ultra-luxury brand in Japan.
“It will not be a Toyota product from our perspective. It’s likely to sit above Lexus,” Mr Hanley told CarExpert.
“We’re studying two things: what’s the potential of that car in Australia, and if we did bring it to Australia, where would [we] position it?”
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Despite Century sitting above Toyota’s other premium brand, Mr Hanley suggested Lexus could be given the responsibility of selling Century models locally.
“Given Lexus’s vast experience in that space, they’re the best people to manage it,” he said.
“So that’s how we’ll go through the study, [Lexus will] manage that, and then they’ll determine [whether there is] a market – where would it be positioned, and how would we sell it.”
The Century SUV is currently sold through selected Lexus dealerships in markets such as China and the United Arab Emirates, and it’s likely the same business model will be adopted for the Australian market – if and when the brand is introduced here.
Mr Hanley said there was a great deal of excitement about the Century Concept, shown at the Tokyo motor show in late October.
“We’re like everyone else in the world who saw that launch of Century – very excited, [and there is] a great sense of pride in what that car stood for in history and what it will stand for in the future.
“And I’m quietly hopeful that under the Century banner, it can come to Australia in the next couple of years.”
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