Just a day ago, the all-new Toyota Alphard made its ASEAN debut. Little did we know that in about 24 hours, there would be another surprise in store for us. Yes folks, the all-new Alphard is here, and we don’t mean by spy shots. The luxury van is now in the Toyota Motor Philippines website. No fancy launch event. No announcement. No teasers.
With that, the Philippines is the first market to sell left-hand drive examples of the redesigned Alphard. As we previously reported, there is only one variant for our country, and it’s the HEV (hybrid) version. So, what does the local-spec Alphard have to offer?
OTHER STORIES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:
CFMoto 450NK makes global debut in PH with a P262,800 price tag
Gaikindo 2023: Eleventh-gen Honda Accord lands in ASEAN with hybrid power
In terms of design, it’s practically identical to the Japanese and Indonesian market models. As far as we can tell, the only difference is the wiper location for, um, obvious reasons. The Philippine-spec model does ride on 19-inch wheels, the largest available for the van. It also gets LED illumination all around, along with a pair of fixed moonroofs.
Now, for the big question: What kind of interior do we get? We’ll get the bad news out of the way first. We don’t get the Executive Lounge’s power sliding seats. On the flipside, the local Alphard still gets the ottoman seats. Specifically, the second-row gets a pair of eight-way power ottoman captain chairs with memory function. It also comes standard with individual touchpads that control a variety of functions, and a pop out table lets passengers work (or eat) on the go.
Also standard is the ‘Super Long Overhead Console’. It moves the air-conditioning vents to the center to free up headroom for the outboard passengers. That panel also houses the climate control system, ambient lights, and additional overhead storage.
Of course, the Alphard didn’t forget about the folks who need to sit in front. There’s loads of leather, wood, and other soft touch materials. A digital instrument cluster sits in front of the driver, and the infotainment system features the latest software. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is standard, along with memory seats for the driver and power seats for the front passenger.
Being a high-end model, Toyota Safety Sense is, of course, standard. It includes pre-collision warning, lane-keep assist, lane departure warning, autonomous emergency braking, and adaptive cruise control, to name a few. The 360-degree view camera helps the driver maneuver this (over) five-meter long van in tight spots.
Powering the Alphard HEV is a 2.5-liter Atkinson Cycle four-cylinder to a powerful electric motor. That gives the Alphard HEV a combined system output of 248hp. It then shifts with an e-CVT that works in conjunction with the electric drive system. There are no official local fuel economy figures yet, but the Toyota Japan website claims up to 17.7km/l under mixed driving conditions. The old 3.5-liter V6 can only dream about those figures.
The price, you ask? You’ll have to cough up P4,980,000 for one and pay an extra P20,000 if you want pearl white paint on it. Speaking of paint, the other colors available are gray and black.
With that, the Alphard the fourth all-new Toyota model to be launched in the country in the span of a month. To folks of TMP, take a bit of a breather. You deserve it.
