Toyota Auto Body has gone back to the Alphard — and this time turned the Japanese minivan into something close to a limousine. The Spacious Lounge has just been refreshed, and it is nothing like the family people-mover you remember. Four seats, no third row, and every detail focused on the passengers in the back.
The core idea is simple: make the cabin silent. Properly silent. Engineers fitted a new performance damper and retuned the shock absorbers from scratch. Small body vibrations and road noise should fade into the background, while the ride becomes smoother and softer. In a car where the main passenger sits on the rear bench, that matters more than any dose of driving dynamics.
The second row gets bespoke Spacious Lounge Seats. The branded floor mats have been recoloured, and fresh trim has been added to underline the upscale status of the cabin. The whole point is to make the rear-seat passenger feel like they are in business class — minus the turbulence.
The price tag, of course, lives up to the ambition. The E-Four hybrid version starts at 12,769,900 yen. The PHEV E-Four plug-in hybrid asks for 14,850,000 yen. Sales through Toyota’s dealer network opened on June 3 — the Spacious Lounge is registered as a body-modified vehicle.
As an extra, buyers can order Paint Protection Film. It is offered for Platinum White Pearl Mica and Neutral Black, shields the paint from chips and is fully compatible with automatic car washes.
What it all means is that the Alphard at the top of the range stopped being a minivan a long time ago. This is not a family car, and not even a “Lexus LM rival” — this is a quiet mobile office built on a regular Toyota. Fridge included, chauffeur sold separately.
