MPV Revolution: New Toyota Alphard And Nissan Elgrand In The Works?

L-R: Nissan Elgrand, Toyota Alphard

Though crossover SUVs may be the dominating car trend now, it seems the mighty MPV – or ‘minivan’, if you prefer American automotive terms – still holds a strong draw amongst certain quarters. One need not look past the stellar reception of the latest generation Kia Carnival as an example.

This also applies to things like the  Toyota Alphard and Nissan Elgrand. Both stand as ‘Kings’ of the luxury MPV market space, and not just in Japan – both saw plenty of success when exported and sold in and around the Asian market region, especially the Toyota.

Speculate renders of the next-gen Nissan Elgrand (left) and TNGA-based Toyota Alphard (right) by BestCarWeb.

However, despite multiple facelifts and updates, both the Alphard and Elgrand have reached advanced stages in terms of age. The Elgrand perhaps stands as the oldest as the current third-gen (chassis code: E52) iteration of which has been in production since 2010. The current third-gen Alphard (chassis code: AH30), on the other hand, stands ‘newer’ given that it has bene in production since 2015.

Well, based on recent reports plus rumours and speculations that are making their rounds on the web recently, we may see an ‘MPV Revolution’ led by all-new iterations of both models soon. Here’s what we know so far…

Speculative render of the upcoming TNGA-based Toyota Alphard by BestCarWeb.

New TNGA-based Alphard Confirmed

We’ll start with the Toyota first as details for which based on this leaked preview presentation video below appears solid. The biggest news here is that the next-gen Alphard will underpin the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) chassis platform.

Besides heightened drivability and safety, the new platform will spur a full exterior and interior redesign. We can expect more luxury and tech, though it’s certain that the dual sliding doors plus three-row seating layout with second-row ‘Captain Seats’ will remain – staple traits of the Alphard.

The biggest gain with the switch to TNGA of course lies in safety, and the next-gen Alphard will benefit from the platform’s ability to seamlessly integrate Toyota’s active or advanced driver assist tech (ADAS) pack called the Toyota Safety Sense (TSS).

The switch in platform also entails the possibility of Toyota fielding all new powertrains across the range, and it’s speculated that a hybrid petrol-electric option will be included too. We’ve already seen Toyota apply a similar setup in the latest and also TNGA-based Toyota Innova MPV recently.

Apart from that, sources online also indicate that the new generation Alphard could debut as early as next month (May) before production and sales kick off in the second half.

 Current-gen Nissan Elgrand (Japan-spec version).

New Elgrand Also In The Works?

With a new generation Alphard more or less confirmed, its Elgrand rival made by Nissan could also undergo a ‘rebirth’ based on speculative reports coming out of Japan’s BestCarWeb portal. Said portal has even prepared a speculative digital render of a new generation Elgrand which does look very enticing.

The portal goes on to speculate, based on Nissan’s current development trend, that the next-gen Elgrand could adopt a new turbocharged ‘e-Power’ petrol-electric series hybrid powertrain that isn’t too dissimilar from what Nissan primes in the new fourth-gen (T33) Nissan X-Trail crossover SUV.

Speculative render of the next-gen Nissan Elgrand by BestCarWerb.

On that note, BestCarWeb even goes to the extent of speculating that the next-gen Elgrand could ride off the same CMF-CD platform architecture as said fourth-gen X-Train crossover, and perhaps adopt its e-4ORCE all-wheel-drive (AWD) setup too.

As for design, the portal’s vision of how the next-gen Elgrand should look like sees it taking plenty of cues and inspiration from the Nissan Sakura EV. However, as this is speculative at best, we’ll advise you to soak things up with a pinch of salt at the very least.

Like the Alphard, expect Nissan to retain both the dual-sliding doors and three-row seating layouts. Whilst the rivalling Alphard benefits with a full swing of active driver assist (ADAS) features supplied by the TNGA platform, the next-gen Elgrand could match that by adopting Nissan’s similar ProPilot 2.0 suite.

Speculations aside, we’re certain that when either models debut, it will spark an ‘MPV Revolution’ of sorts, especially in market spaces where flagship luxury MPVs like the Alphard and Elgrand are highly prized. Which of the two would entice you the most then? Hit the comments below with your thoughts…