Toyota last night revealed an all-new, sleek 2-row midsize SUV with a focus on ride comfort. It wasn’t great news for Toyota’s old, sleek 2-row midsize SUV focused on ride comfort.
Please welcome the 2025 Toyota Crown Signia. Its arrival means goodbye to the Toyota Venza.
A Toyota spokesperson confirms that 2024 will be the Venza’s last year on the market. It bows out to make room for a very similar but perhaps more upscale Crown Signia.
Don’t Avoid It Because of the News
Canceled cars, however, represent great buying opportunities. The Venza will be around for another model year and should remain a good buy the whole time. Prices may come down as advertising for the Crown Signia ramps up, and dealers want to clear lot space for the new guy.
The Venza is an unassuming, well-built hybrid midsize SUV with a supremely comfortable ride and an upscale feel for its price. Starting at $34,920 (plus a mandatory $1,395 processing and handling fee), it leads our list of the most fuel-efficient SUVs.
The Venza has always been the forgotten one in Toyota’s extensive SUV lineup. But it offers Toyota’s excellent resale value, and our expert test driver praised its comfort and smooth hybrid power transitions. At upper trim levels, he says, it “reaches a Lexus-like level of luxury.” Standard all-wheel drive (AWD) makes it practical in cold climates.
Those are basically the same virtues Toyota advertises with the new Crown Signia. The two are similar enough that the Crown Signia could nearly serve as a next-generation Venza. But Toyota is in the process of reintroducing the Crown name to America.
A Crown Sub-Brand?
It was once well-known here — the first Japanese car ever sold in the States was the 1958 Toyopet Crown. Yes, Toyopet. They changed the name quickly, but we’d like to see that brought back for a lineup of puppy cars.
By 2025, dealers will sell the Crown, a high-riding full-size sedan, and the Crown Signia, a Venza in new clothing. In Japan, the company also sells a Crown Sport small SUV and a low-riding Crown sedan known for Lexus-like comfort. We have no confirmation those are coming to the U.S., but two Crowns seem to be the start of a sub-brand. Why not four?
