Believe it or not, it has been four years since Lexus introduced the LM luxury van. The Alphard-based Lexus was first introduced in 2019 and eventually made its way to the Philippines in 2021. But after a short production cycle, Lexus will introduce an all-new generation of the LM for the 2024 model year, and the full reveal will be next week.
But the upcoming debut of the redesigned Lexus LM also means another thing: The impending reveal of the all-new Toyota Alphard. But before we dig deeper into that, let’s take a look at the teaser first.
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Lexus only revealed one photo of the van, and it’s a shadowy section of the rear window. It doesn’t really say much, other than it has a different shape compared to the current model. It also gets more chrome on the window surrounds, but that’s pretty much it. Thankfully, the debut isn’t too far away, which is during Auto Shanghai 2023 that kicks off on April 18. If it’s of interest, Lexus will also be selling this model in Europe.
But now, for the other significant development. It was reported that the 2024 Toyota Alphard, will also make its debut sometime this year. With the Lexus version being revealed first, it might not be long before Toyota premieres the third-generation Alphard. It was initially reported that the redesigned Alphard will be out by the third quarter of 2023, but there’s now a possibility of it being shown earlier.
Given that the current Alphard and LM share the same mechanical, we’re expecting it to be the same for the all-new versions of both vans. It’s possible that Toyota (and Lexus) will retire the long-running 3.5-liter V6 and replace it with the 2.4-liter turbo that currently powers the Lexus RX and the Toyota Highlander sold in the US.
A hybrid version is a given, but it remains to be seen if Toyota and Lexus will use a four-cylinder or six-cylinder arrangement. We’ll find out more once it’s revealed in a few days.
