While the Toyota Harrier is a darling among Malaysian buyers, its American twin isn’t getting the same love. Called the Toyota Venza, the Harrier’s American twin was introduced in 2020 but it will be discontinued and replaced by the Crown Estate SUV.

Unveiled alongside the completely redesigned new 2024 Toyota Camry at the 2023 Los Angeles Auto Show, the Crown Estate, called the Toyota Crown Signia will be the second Crown model introduced in the States following the Crown Crossover.

With the Crown nameplate’s return to North America after a 51-year hiatus, it was announced that it will be a new global sub-brand for Toyota. The Crown brand would be sitting below the Lexus marque and over in Japan where the Crown is offered in 4 body styles, it has its own dealer network separate from Toyota.

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Toyota brand head, Dave Christ, confirmed this to Automotive News. “Crown is the oldest nameplate Toyota sells, and it’s starting to (gain relevance with US consumers) because it’s been well-received,” he said.

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“We’re selling the Crown Crossover in much higher volumes than we did with the Avalon, which was the last flagship sedan (in North America), so I think we’ll build on that success.”

Since the Crown Crossover’s Stateside launch in the first quarter of this year (Q1 2023), 14,961 units have been sold which is nearly on pace with Toyota’s projected annual sales of 20,000 vehicles.

Christ said that Toyota is targeting a sales volume of 25,000 units annually for Crown line-up. While there was some discussion about keeping the Venza in the line-up, the brand head said that since both models are similar in dimension, the Venza had to be killed off to make way for the Crown SUV.

Since its reintroduction following a 5-year hiatus, a total of 133,727 units of the Harrier-rebadged Venza were sold. Both the Venza and Crown Signia are built on the same TNGA-K platform but the latter is larger and has a taller roofline that suits American buyers more.

The Crown Signia is only available in the States with a hybrid powertrain that combines a 2.5-litre 4-cylinder engine with a pair of electric motors. Combined, the hybrid system makes 246 PS and is only available with all-wheel drive (AWD).

The Crown SUV is due to launch in America around the second half of 2024 (H2 2024) and is offered in 2 variants, base XLE and Limited. Prices for the Crown Signia would be announced later though it could be around the Venza’s price range which starts from USD 36,015 (~RM 169k).

Also read: Power has never defined the Toyota Harrier in over 23 years - Here’s what it stood for