Toyota's Century brand goes global, 28 years after its first attempt
Japan's state limousine has gone abroad officially once before, with about 100 export cars
Toyota is preparing to sell Century, the ultra-luxury brand it placed above Lexus, well beyond Japan. The Century SUV already ships to China and in small numbers to the Middle East and other Asian markets, and executives are now sounding out North America. Chairman Akio Toyoda made the point last week, arriving at his Automotive Hall of Fame induction in Detroit in a Century SUV that is not sold there.
Century became a standalone brand above Lexus in October 2025
Toyota spun Century off as its own brand at the Japan Mobility Show in October 2025, where Akio Toyoda said he wanted it to carry "the pride of Japan" into the world. Until then Century was a single Toyota model, named in 1967 for the 100th birthday of founder Sakichi Toyoda and used by the Imperial Household and Japan's prime ministers. The brand now covers the Century sedan, the Century SUV and a two-door coupe concept shown in Tokyo, and in Japan it is not sold through Lexus showrooms.
Century SUV costs ¥25 million in Japan and 1.98 million yuan in China
The Century SUV went on sale in Japan in September 2023 at ¥25 million, roughly €140,000 at today's rate, against ¥20.08 million for the sedan. China lists it at 1.98 million yuan, about €240,000 and some 70 percent more than the Japanese price. Allocation has been tight enough for Chinese dealers to ask up to 1.8 million yuan on top. Even then it undercuts a Rolls-Royce Cullinan, which lists at 6.91 million yuan in China. Power comes from a 3.5-litre V6 plug-in hybrid, not the V12 of old.
Toyota builds about 30 Century SUVs a month
Toyota planned the Century SUV at about 30 cars a month when it launched, a ceiling of roughly 360 a year, and every Century is still finished largely by hand. Bloomberg puts total Century deliveries at around 500 last year, against 1,700 in 1997. By comparison, Rolls-Royce delivered 5,664 cars in 2025, and the Cullinan alone accounted for 3,291. That gap means any overseas Century will be sold by allocation, and every export is a car a Japanese buyer does not get.
The V12 Century reached Europe in 1998 with about 100 export cars
This is Century's second attempt abroad. In November 1998 Toyota began limited official exports of the second-generation car to Europe, China and the Middle East, pitched as a limousine for company chiefs and government officials, and built about 100 left-hand-drive examples for the purpose. That car carried a 5.0-litre V12, Japan's only production-car V12, built for the Century alone until 2017. The export run stayed at those 100 cars, a small footnote next to the home market, where sales had doubled from 1,027 in 1985 to 2,117 in 1989 at the height of the bubble economy.
Lexus pulled its LS flagship from Europe as Century moves up
Europe is absent from the markets Toyota is naming for Century, and Lexus left the flagship segment here on 1 October 2025, when the LS was withdrawn. The updated LS now on sale in Japan is a hybrid-only car. Century would enter a European class held by Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Mercedes-Maybach, where buyers expect a commission rather than a price list: at Bentley, more than 70 percent of customers order Mulliner content. Chinese flagships such as BYD's Yangwang range are chasing the same buyers from below.
AutoNext Take
Toyota has the order right this time. In 1998 it pushed a V12 limousine at Europe and built about 100 export cars. Now it is following buyers who already exist, in China, where dealers have asked up to 1.8 million yuan over list, and in the Gulf. With about 30 SUVs a month to share out, Century can sell out abroad without opening a single dedicated showroom.
Europe will be the last stop, not the next one. Lexus withdrew its own LS here in October 2025, and a plug-in V6 does not yet carry the weight of a Rolls-Royce or Bentley badge in Munich or Milan. Expect a North American or Gulf price list before any European one, most likely once the coupe reaches production. For a brand that counts its success in hundreds of cars, that is the right sequence.
