Toyota Crown Signia Finalist For MotorTrend SUV Of The Year

Though the Crown Signia technically debuted as a 2024 model, it reached the inventory of Sharp Automotive and other Toyota dealers well after it could contend for MotorTrend’s 2024 SUV of the Year Award. So, it will compete for the same award for the 2025 model year.  

Effectively, if not precisely, replacing the smaller Venza in the Toyota lineup, and with an extended roof and standard all-wheel drive, the Crown Signia certainly meets the requirements for a crossover /SUV. However, its proportions suggest something else. Sitting on the Crown’s midsize platform and sharing that model’s sheet metal through the front doors, the model very much appears as a wagon version of Toyota’s flagship Crown Sedan. Using the RAV4 as a reference point, the Crown Signia has a half-foot longer wheelbase, is more than a foot longer overall, and is about three inches lower in height.   

With the Toyota model line filled with SUVs and crossovers with rugged off-road styling, the Crown Signia forgoes that direction entirely and invokes European luxury estate vehicles’ long-lean sophistication and refinement.  

It is sophisticated, with all models sporting a hybrid powertrain. The engine is a 2.5-liter DOHC inline-4 combined with a front 199-lb-ft motor and a rear-mounted 89-lb-ft motor, powering the rear wheels for a standard all-wheel-drive (AWD) system. The combined system produces 243 horsepower. With no added powertrain drag of a mechanical AWD system, the rear motor assists upon acceleration and when the front tires experience reduced traction.   

Designed from the outset with a hybrid powertrain paired with a continuously variable transmission, the Crown Signia delivers superb fuel efficiency for a vehicle of its size and capability. It is EPA-rated 39 in the city and 37 on the highway, for a combined rating of 38. Those are figures you won’t find on any other mid-size crossover, and they also enable the Crown Signia to claim a 551-mile operating range. 

Inside, the Crown Signia shares the same elegant cabin as the Crown Sedan. A 12.3-inch touchscreen anchors the horizontal-themed dashboard adjacent to a multi-configurable standard 12.3-inch digital driver’s display. Soft materials on the dash, door panels, and center console look particularly stunning in the Saddle Tan color. Motor Trend states: “Although some materials can’t match those in the Lexus RX’s cabin, the Toyota is plenty premium for its mainstream segment.” 

As of this writing, we will find out in about a month if the Crown Signia takes MotorTrend’s SUV of the Year prize.  It faces stiff competition, including some from other models in the Toyota model line.  In the meantime, if a luxurious, elegant crossover with long-lean proportions, hybrid efficiency, and AWD sure-footedness in poor weather checks the boxes for your next vehicle, come to Sharp Automotive Group and test drive the elegant Crown Signia.