Ladies and gentlemen. Can I have your attention please.
Can we please observe a minute’s silence for the passing of Toyota Granvia people mover, a project perhaps doomed to failure from the start.
Based on the humble HiAce van, the boxy, monolithic, six- and eight-seater, with its huge radiator grille targeted high-end hospitality, family and corporate buyers.
Priced from $68,000, Toyota says it attracted close to 1000 sales since its introduction in late 2019.
In 2024, they sold 16 of them.
No word on Granvia’s counterpart, the Lexus LM, priced from an incredible $160,000.
Surprisingly, they sold 79 LMs last year which means it will probably stick around for the time being.
The star of the people mover category, whether under or over $70,000, is undoubtedly the Kia Carnival with 1115 sales for the same 12 months.
This compares with total sales of people movers for 2024 of 1616 units.
Granvia was available in six- and eight-seat versions, powered by a 2.8-litre turbo-diesel engine.
Toyota Australia says it has discontinued its Granvia premium people-mover in response to changing market conditions and upcoming regulatory requirements.
Low customer demand, along with the need for technical modifications to meet a new Australian Design Rule (ADR), prompted Toyota to re-assess the suitability of Granvia for the Australian market.
Toyota’s Sean Hanley said as consumer preferences had shifted away from people movers into the booming SUV market, so the company had decided against upgrading the Granvia in line with the new ADR 98/00, which came into effect on March 1.
It should be noted, however, that the SUV boom was well underway before the launch of the car and does not seem to have had the same impact on Kia.
“We initially planned to upgrade the Granvia to meet the new standard but upon reviewing sales, market conditions, production complexity and future regulations, we decided not to proceed and to instead retire the nameplate,” Mr Hanley said.
“The people mover segment makes up just one per cent of the total market with buyers gravitating towards large SUVs. In the end we couldn’t make a compelling business case for continuing with the vehicle.”
The discontinuation takes effect immediately with final deliveries by the end of the month.
Toyota Australia will work with its dealer network to assist affected customers.
“We apologise to any customers inconvenienced by this decision,” Mr Hanley said.
