UMW Toyota Motor will be introducing the all-new Toyota Alphard and Toyota Vellfire locally. The company will be importing the two models direct from Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) in Japan and there will be two variants of the Alphard, namely the Alphard 3.5 Executive Lounge and Alphard 3.5, and just one variant of the Vellfire.
Interested customers can now register their interest at all UMW Toyota Motor branches and authorised Toyota dealers nationwide.
Both MPVs will come with a full factory warranty for a period of 5 years and unlimited mileage. Owners are also assured of complete and qualified aftersales support, including parts, from any authorised Toyota service centre in Malaysia.
The Alphard is powered by a 3.5-litre V6 engine while the Vellfire has a 2.5-litre 4-cylinder engine, both equipped with Toyota’s Dual VVT-i system. Active and passive safety systems that are provided as standard fitment include 7 SRS airbags, ABS with EBD and Brake Assist (BA) as well as Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) and Traction Control.
Both models will include a generous range of luxury equipment, while the range-topping Alphard 3.5 Executive Lounge gets VIP Power Seats with internal cooling. This variant also comes with a 17 speaker premium sound system by JBL.
Datuk Ismet Suki, President of UMW Toyota Motor said “We realise that many Malaysians like these models as they are ideal for corporate companies to ferry their important guests and those with large families who like going around together. As such, we have decided that we should also include these models in our range.”
Mr. Akio Takeyama, Deputy Chairman of UMW Toyota Motor added that there are difference between grey-imported units and officially-imported ones. “Through long experience, Toyota engineers have found that driving conditions in Malaysia can be quite demanding. The weather conditions are usually hot and vehicles travel long distances at high speeds. These can have an effect on operating temperatures of the engine so programming of the ECU (Engine Control Unit) is usually adjusted to keep the engine cool,” he said.
The specific programming is only done for units that are specifically destined for Malaysia and imported by UMW Toyota Motor.
“Vehicles intended for other countries will have tuning specially for those countries and they may not operate optimally in Malaysian conditions. For example, vehicles sold in Japan would not require tuning for such high temperatures as the weather conditions are cooler,” he added.
In addition to that, owners of grey-imported vehicle cannot make use of the navigation system because the digital maps provided are not for Malaysia and it is all in Japanese. Furthermore, the radio frequencies are also using Japanese radio frequencies, which renders the system useless. For units imported by UMW Toyota Motor, the audio system is already suited to local frequencies while the digital maps provided are for Malaysia and neighbouring countries and the information are in English.
Datuk Ismet added, “Most importantly, every model sold by UMW Toyota Motor comes with a full 5 years warranty with unlimited mileage and full aftersales support. This means that the owner can have peace of mind and be assured of qualified aftersales support. We will even make sure that we stock the necessary parts for the Vellfire and Alphard to minimise inconvenience to owners.”
2016 Toyota Alphard
2016 Toyota Vellfire
