Toyota is releasing a slew of concepts at Japan Mobility Show 2025, and among them is the manufacturer’s push further upmarket – even beyond Lexus – with the Century brand. The Japanese manufacturer’s intent to push beyond the realm of Lexus indicates its aim to go beyond the traditional German rivals, and aspiring to the segment occupied by the likes of Rolls-Royce and Bentley. The company takes pride in the name’s heritage, typically associated with high-level government officials and businesspeople. “It’s a brand which has been very popular in Japan, and the history of it is very close to the family. If you think of Rolls-Royce and Bentley, there are no Mr. Rolls or Mr. Bentley in those companies, but we have a Century and still have the same family going forward. To separate Century off into this ultra-high luxury brand allows Lexus a little bit to focus on the kind of the mainstream luxury,” Toyota head of European design development Lance Scott told Car. Leading the marque’s thrust towards even greater heights of luxury is the One of One concept, a large crossover taking the form of a lifted fastback coupé, indicating a more driver-focused flavour of luxury than the brand had demonstrated previously with the Century SUV of 2023, and before that, the third-generation Century sedan in 2018. As teased previously, the concept flaunts doors on the passenger side which slide open rather than by a conventional hinged opening. Here, the cabin is revealed to use a staggered seating layout where the passenger is seated effectively behind the driver’s position, with a curtain of sorts separating the two. The passenger seat in the tall-riding concept swivels for ease of entry and egress. In here, and as with the Corolla Concept also shown at the Japan Mobility Show, the crossover coupé Century concept eschews the prevalent in-car trend of a single tablet-style interface dominating the dashboard. Instead, this features a trio of digital displays for the driver comprised of a main horizontal display ahead of the steering yoke, flanked by a pair of smaller vertical units. Little else has been revealed about the Century brand’s tall-riding concept, including its powertrain. Based on existing offerings from the brand, this could be either the PHEV 5.0 litre V8 adapted from the Century sedan, or the PHEV 3.5 litre V6 in the Century SUV. Given the brand’s stated ultra-luxury intent, perhaps the latter? Alongside this tall-riding coupé concept, the brand also depicted the Century SUV and sedan, the former in a darker aesthetic and the latter in sporty, GR guise. On this front, these are reminiscent the Black Badge versions of Rolls-Royce models, to keep with the ultra-luxury parallel. The darkened trim styling continues inside, too, where sections of the Century cabin are shown to wear a pattern that mimics the weave of carbon-fibre, in a styling direction similar to that of the Technical Weave in the Ghost Black Badge, for instance. This push towards ultra-luxury likely won’t be confined to the Japanese domestic market, as past Century models historically have been, thus opening the door to global markets. “Century is not just another brand within Toyota Motor Corporation. We want to cultivate it as a brand that brings the spirit of Japan ― the pride of Japan ― out into the world,” Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda said in closing of his presentation. Compare prices between different insurer providers to save the most on your car insurance renewal compared to other competing services. Many payment method supported and you can pay with instalment using Grab PayLater or Shopee SPayLater.
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