Necessity, it’s often said, is the mother of invention.

Case in point: The Toyota Crown Virtual Tour.

Toyota Marketing and the Applied Tech Research Lab (ATRL) within OneTech joined forces recently to creatively support the launch of the 2023 Toyota Crown.

The tool, called WebGL, produced a highly immersive and interactive presentation of the vehicle for display on the dealers’ screens of choice (desktop, tablet and/or smartphone).

This innovative approach is proving to be a big hit. More than 3,000 dealer personnel in the U.S. (and more than 7,000 globally) have accessed the site. And, more importantly, some 65% of them have interacted with the content to view the Crown, both inside and out, and get up to speed on its engineering prowess and many comfort and convenience features.

“We are very pleased with the usage metrics, especially when you consider that we limited the promotion of the site to our dealership partners,” said Amy Chao, manager of Vehicle Marketing and Communications. “The primary objective was to educate salespeople about the Crown so that they, in turn, could share that knowledge with their customers. By all indications, it hit the mark.”

So, does that mean the Crown site will inspire others that follow? Stay tuned for the answer to that question.