Toyota confirms Granvia eight-seater

TOYOTA Australia has confirmed that its new HiAce-based Granvia people-mover will be offered with six or eight seats in three- and four-row configurations when it lands in Australian showrooms in the fourth quarter of this year.

Effectively replacing the Tarago in the Australian market after a run of 36 years, the Granvia will have six individual ‘captain’s chairs’ in the first three rows, with the eight-seater adding a two-person fourth-row bench that can be folded and split 60/40 for greater flexibility.

Both layouts will be available in two specification levels – Granvia and Granvia VX – with the latter sporting quilted leather-accented upholstery, power adjustment for the seat backrests and fold-out “ottoman” leg-rests for the second-row seating in eight-seater versions and all four rear seats in the six-seaters.

No pricing has been confirmed yet, but Toyota has spelled out much of the specification as it warms up potential customers for the generational change.

Toyota Australia vice-president sales and marketing Sean Hanley said the Granvia would change the perception of what premium stands for in the people-mover market.

“Granvia offers the capacity to carry up to eight occupants, so providing high levels of safety was imperative and our suite of Toyota Safety Sense driver assistance features help deliver that,” he said.

“At the same time, it provides an almost limousine-like degree of cabin comfort and refinement for passengers with large captain's chairs, independent rear climate control and six rear USB ports to keep devices fully charged for business or entertainment.”

Standard equipment will include front and rear climate control,  keyless entry and start, dual side sliding doors (power operated on VX) and the latest multimedia system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility.

Safety systems include autonomous braking with pedestrian and daytime cyclist detection, along with high-speed adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, lane-departure alert, road sign assist and automatic high beam.

Blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, front and rear parking sensors, and a reversing camera are also included.

Powertrain details are yet to be revealed, but as GoAuto has reported, the Granvia will be propelled by a four-cylinder diesel engine – most likely Toyota’s 2.8-litre unit – and an automatic transmission.

The vehicle it will ultimately supersede, the Tarago, kicks off from $45,490 plus on-road costs for the four-cylinder petrol GLi and tops out at $65,261 for the V6 Ultima.

It will continue to be sold in parallel with the Granvia before being phased out.

Australia’s top-selling people-mover, the Kia Carnvival, starts at $42,490, while the Hyundai i-Max begins at $43,990.

The Granvia is based on the all-new HiAce van that was launch in Australia last month.