Toyota’s New Hiace Super Grandia Will Make You Look Forward to Van Rides
Cars and SUVs may dominate private vehicle sales in the country, but the number of buyers of utility vans is not insignificant. In fact, more and more people are buying vans in the country, peaking at over 4,000 sold every month in 2018.
Elijah Sue Marcial, vice president for the Marketing Services Department of Toyota Motors Philippines, presented the data during the launch of the all-new Toyota Hiace Super Grandia on Monday, August 19. According to her, the steady increase can be attributed to “increasing needs for public transportation and the booming tourism industry nationwide.”
Marcial and the TMP folks have a reason to be upbeat about the numbers, especially since the Hiace is far and away the betselling utility van in the country for years. Over 5 in every 10 vans sold in the country last year was a Hiace. Considering strong competition from other brands (Nissan’s Urvan, Hyundai Starex, etc.) that’s no small feat.
With the Philippines as the debut country for the 6th generation all-new Hiace, and being recognized as the biggest Hiace market in the world outside of Japan, the country truly has earned its place in Hiace history,” said TMP president Satoru Suzuki.
“The Hiace has become the symbol of comfort, convenience, and durability, and has indeed proven its reliability as the utility van which best caters to the needs of Filipinos both for personal and business endeavors,” Suzuki added.
The last time the Hiace got an update was 15 years ago, so this new version is one that many people have been anticipating for quite some time. Officials unveiled the all-new Hiace Super Grandia at Greenbelt’s Fashion Walk in Makati City.
“The New Hiace Super Grandia embodies grand luxury and hospitality or what the Japanese call omotenashi,” said Marcial. True enough, when the curtains dropped on the all-new Hiace, many in the crowd immediately noticed how much the van exuded refined elegance. There are chrome accents in the large front grille and defined bi-beam LED headlamps. There are also chrome accents in the rear, complemented by the LED rear combination lights.
Although the all-new Hiace Super Grandia comes in three variants—Elite, Leather, and Fabric—it’s the Elite that you’d want to get. A few features exclusive to the top-tier variant are Powersliding Doors, quilted leather four-way power adjust captain seats with ottoman replacing the first rear row, and Nano-E air purifying technology.
The Hiace Super Grandia Elite variant is also the first in TMP’s lineup to feature Toyota Safety Sense (TSS), which is essnetially a suite of active safety features that “identifies and helps drivers eliminate factors that may cause accidents.” It’s also a key technology in Toyota’s credo of making ever better cars.
The TSS features for the Elite variant include the Pre-Collision System (PCS), Lane Departure Alert (LDA), Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), and Automatic High Beam (AHB).
Under the hood is a 1GD-FTV 2.8 Diesel automatic transmission engine with 2,755cc displacement, 176 horsepower, intercooler system, and EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation). A 4-Link Coil Spring rear suspension system also promises to reduce cabin noise, vibration, and harshness.
Marcial says the primary target for the new Hiace Super Grandia are affluent families, as well as luxury hotels, resorts and casinos. She added that the Hiace is most strongly marketed toward customers “aged 40 to 44 years old, mostly male, married with many kids and an average monthly household income of P220,000 to P240,000. They will mostly use the Super Grandia for personal transportation for the family.”
I can imagine the occupants will experience comfort like never before inside the Super Grandia, with premium captain seats in the first and second row, as well as bench-type seats for four passengers in the back row.
Advanced safety features will help put owners at ease. These include the Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS), Vehicle Stability Control with Brake Assist, Hill Start Assist, Clearance and Back Sonars, Back Monitor, nine SRS airbags (driver, front passenger, driver knee, front side, and curtain shield), and Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR) three-point seatbelts for the driver and all passengers.
All in all, the latest version of the Hiace Super Grandia is the most comfortable and luxurious one yet, and helps make riding in a van to go on long drives something to actually look forward to.
Price for all-new Toyota Hiace SUper Grandia starts at P2.42 million for the Fabric Monotone variant and goes up to P2.89 million for the Elite Two-tone.
