The slowest-selling Toyota available to the Australian public has been culled after less than 1000 examples were delivered in five years.
The Toyota Granvia – the people-mover version of the popular HiAce van – will depart Australian showrooms next month due to low demand and the "need for technical modifications" to meet new safety rules.
There are no confirmed plans for a replacement, and the Alphard on sale in Japan – a favourite with private importers in Australia – remains off-limits despite its Lexus LM twin being sold locally, while the US-market Sienna isn't made in right-hand drive.
It will be the first time in 45 years the Toyota brand has not sold a people mover in Australia, once the final deliveries occur in March.
Since it launched in 2019 as the replacement for the popular Tarago, just 999 Granvias have been reported as sold to the end of January 2025.
Kia has delivered more Carnivals – the country's top-selling people mover – in the past two months alone, and last year the Granvia was outsold more than two-to-one by the Ferrari range (246 vs 117).
While the Granvia is equipped with AEB, its system does not appear to meet the operating parameters of the rules mandated by the Federal Government.
The closely-related HiAce van – understood to use the same AEB sensors – will be upgraded to meet the rules, Drive understands, but Toyota has deemed it is not worthwhile to apply the changes to the Granvia.
"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," Toyota Australia sales and marketing boss Sean Hanley said in a media statement.
"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 Granvia went on sale in October 2019 as "far more than a replacement for the venerable Toyota Tarago," according to the Japanese car giant.
Toyota aimed the six- or eight-seater at "high-end hospitality, family and corporate buyers," with a 2.8-litre turbo-diesel engine in place of the Tarago's 2.4-litre four-cylinder and 3.5-litre V6 petrols.
It was priced from $62,990 plus on-road costs – up from the Tarago's $45,490 to $65,261 – and topped out at $74,990 for the VX grade.
Since then, prices have risen to between $68,306 and $77,355 plus on-roads – in line with a diesel Kia Carnival GT-Line Lite ($68,730) and hybrid GT-Line ($76,360) respectively.
The Tarago's 21st-century sales peak was 3920 vehicles in 2007 – for a total of more than 100,000 from 1983 to 2019 – compared to a height of 276 Granvia deliveries in 2020, and a low of 112 in 2023.
Over the same period, annual Kia Carnival sales have risen from 5066 in 2007, to 6493 in 2019 – the year the Granvia launched – 11,312 in 2023, and 10,080 in 2024.
Only one new Toyota model reported fewer deliveries in Australia last year, the Mirai hydrogen car (nine vehicles), but it is offered only through leases to fleets, and is not on sale to the general public.
Even the Toyota GR Supra sports car was more popular, on 222 deliveries.
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
