Ever since your author was but a wee tot, the hierarchy for Toyota and Lexus was simple — Toyota was the mainstream brand and Lexus was the luxury flagship.
Enter Century — what was once a model of Japanese-market luxury cars and limos will now become a flagship brand for Toyota. Even more luxurious than Lexus.
Lexus, to be clear, will remain, though the plan is to go heavy on electric vehicles. The LS, which once reset the luxury market and showed what Toyota was capable of, is being killed.
Perhaps this news was foreshadowed a few years back when Toyota launched a Century SUV for the Chinese market.
A Century Coupe concept will be shown later this month at the 2025 Japanese Mobility Show, and the Century One of One concept will preview a luxury coupe with raised ground clearance.
It seems that Lexus will remain as the “main” luxury line, with a focus on innovation, while Century will exist to compete with niche brands that hand-build cars. Like Rolls-Royce.
Toyota also has plans to unveil a supercar on December 5th, with the public getting its first glimpse in January at the 2026 Tokyo Auto Salon.
[Images: Toyota]
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