The Toyota Alphard is ubiquitous in Hong Kong. Popular with cross-border tycoons and celebrities, the eight-seater vans can offer the comfort and stretch of a luxury saloon, and an interior that can be converted into a people-mover, mobile office or an air conditioned sanctuary from the smog or paparazzi.
So the Kowloon Bay showroom of Toyota dealers Crown Motors was packed last month when Toyota Tsusho's managing director Hiroyuki Shimominami joined the local distributor's general manager, Franco Ngo, in the unveiling of the Japanese marque's latest Alphard and Vellfire vans.
The dealer offers two petrol-driven Alphards with a hybrid version on the way. The larger Alphard 350 (HK$738,000) is as plush as its predecessors with adjustable seat-backs and leg support, and an Ottoman seat in its cabin's middle row.
The van is 4.875 metres long, 1.830m wide and 1.905m tall, and there is a knack to parking it in tight spots with electronic sensors and mirrors. It is also a punchy drive offering 350Nm of torque on 17-inch wheels from a 247ps, 3,456cc Dual VVT-i engine and Toyota's six-speed Automatic Super Electronic Control Transaxle transmission with Artificial Intelligence that has been designed for smooth, quiet shifts over long distances.
The vans are also fitted with twin moonroofs, an intelligent adaptive front-lighting system, power adjustable and retractable door mirrors with memory functions, 11 airbags and Isofix child-restraint systems in the second row of beige leather seats.
The Alphard 240 is 10mm longer, and fitted with a 170ps, 2,362cc, 16-valve VVT-i engine mated to a seven-speed Super CVT-i Transmission offering 224Nm of thrust. Designated as an Environmentally Friendly Private Vehicle, it costs HK$564,200 after a first registration tax discount, largely thanks to an ECO driving mode that moderates its fuel consumption.