Toyota ended sales of its HiAce-based Granvia family minivan in Australia at the start of the year and explained that the market was shifting markedly towards luxury solutions – the Lexus LM, for example, costs around $200,000 and was shown there last year; this was reported by tarantas.news.
Toyota explains its decision to leave this segment is due to many factors. The demand for the previous generation Granvia turned out to be very little, which is why the release of the update did not make economic sense. In addition, significant investments are required to adapt the model to the new ADR 98/00 safety standard and the company considers these costs unjustified.
Toyota Australia Vice President Sean Hanley notes that the family passenger car market has changed significantly: buyers are moving towards premium vehicles. Kia Carnival has become the leader – with a price of about 70 thousand USD, owning about 80% of the market share in the segment, while the shares of other players are still modest.
At the same time, the number of minivans and minibuses in Australia is small – accounting for just 1.2% of all new sales. In that context, Toyota's refusal to participate is unlikely to change the overall layout. It sounds realistic: investing heavily in a narrow segment with superior competitors is a risk with no clear return, and relying on high-end solutions only reflects current customer expectations.
