IT MAY BE A little unkind to suggest that nobody buys a people mover (MPV) for its style, but MPVs have always been bought more for their convenience and practicality than their sex appeal.
That may well change when Toyota’s all-new Granvia arrives in Australia in the fourth quarter this year. The Grnvia will offer supreme comfort, premium appointments and a high level of safety features to move people in style.
The new addition to the Toyota line-up will be offered in two grades with both featuring the latest Toyota Safety Sense driver assistance technologies along with luxury features that will appeal to high-end family, hospitality and corporate buyers.
Toyota Australia Vice President Sales and Marketing Sean Hanley said the all-new 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,” Mr Hanley 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,” he said.
With its focus on providing comfortable, premium transport for more than an average family, the Granvia will be offered with a choice of six or eight seats in standard and top-of-the-range VX grades.
All variants feature a rear cabin with four individual reclining Captain’s chairs with armrests, with the eight-seater models adding a fourth-row, two-seat 60/40-split bench.
Granvia VX variants take the seating to an even more luxurious level with quilted leather-accented upholstery and power-adjustment for the backrest and additional fold out “ottoman” leg-rest, for the second-row seating in eight-seater versions and all four rear seats in six-seater versions.
Both standard and Granvia VX versions also offer front and rear climate control, smart entry and start, dual side sliding doors (power operated on VX) and the latest multimedia system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility.
Along with the high level of comfort and convenience features, the new Granvia features an array of driver assistance features standard across the range including pre-collision safety system (PCS) with pedestrian detection (day and night) and cyclist detection (day only); high-speed active cruise control; lane departure alert; road sign assist; and automatic high beam.
Using camera and radar sensors, the PCS is designed to detect vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists and assists the driver with visual and audible warnings, braking assistance or autonomous emergency braking if the driver fails to heed the warning.
The lane departure alert function will warn the driver if the system detects that the car has deviated from its lane with visual and audible alerts and if necessary, provide steering assistance via the braking system.
All Granvia models also feature a road sign assist system that is able to recognise certain speed limit signs and display them on the multi information display (MID) in the instrument cluster.
Other advanced safety features include blind-spot monitor, rear cross-traffic alert, front and rear parking sensors, reversing camera with guide lines and nine airbags.
Once we have tested and assessed the new Toyota Granvia, seniordriveraus will bring you a comprehensive review, including everything the over-50 driver needs to know.