Toyota Crown to be sold outside Japan for the first time

Toyota has unveiled the 16th generation of its Crown model, its flagship in Japan, and said it will be sold around the world for the first time.

The new Crown will be available in about 40 countries and regions, with an expected annual sales volume of some 200,000 units, Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota, said at the debut of the new model.

“This flagship has represented Japanese success and pride, bringing together Japan's world-class technology and skilled workforce,” he said.

“The new Crown is full of these underlying strengths. That is why, with this series, we will once again take on the world.”

Toyota has unveiled four variations of the Crown — a crossover, a sport type, sedan and an SUV.

The Crown crossover type will be the first model to be released around autumn this year, Toyota said. The cheapest version begins at 4.35 million yen ($31,000) in Japan.

_________________________

Toyota Crown through the years — in pictures

_________________________

The other models will be released over the course of the next year and a half.

The Crown was initially launched in 1955 as its first mass production passenger vehicle created with Toyota's own domestic technology.

It was the first car Toyota exported to the US, in 1958. Two years later, exports were suspended as the Crown's engine wasn't capable of speeds needed on American freeways.

“I would be more than happy if we could help restore vitality to Japan by making the Crown a Japanese car loved round the world,” Mr Toyoda said.

Toyota recently unveiled its first mass market hybrid car for India, the Urban Cruiser Hyryder SUV. It is the first car to be built by Toyota as part of a global alliance with Suzuki.

The model will be an “ultimate game changer” for the company in India's electrified car space, Vikram Kirloskar, vice chairman of local unit Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said at a launch event in New Delhi.

Brief scores:

QPR 0

Watford 1

Capoue 45' 1

21 Lessons for the 21st Century

Yuval Noah Harari, Jonathan Cape

History's medical milestones

1799 - First small pox vaccine administered

1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery

1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases

1895 - Discovery of x-rays

1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time

1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin

1953 - Structure of DNA discovered

1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place

1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill

1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.

1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”