When it comes to people carriers, only two Toyota models suited for the job come to mind - the Sienna and the European Verso. Believe it or not, the Japanese automaker has a lot bigger offer for the Asian market, with names like the Noah, Voxy, Alphard and Vellfire to complete the range. Now, there’s a new one on the block, probably the most luxurious one yet to come and it’s known as the Esquire.
What’s the idea with all these vans that look almost the same for the untrained eye? Toyota simply wants to offer the right product for the right customer. You can look at the Alphard and Velfire as you’d look at entry level models. The Noah and Voxy are their youth-oriented upper class versions and the new Esquire comes to top it off as the luxury business edition.
The Toyota Esquire is basically a Noah model with more stuff on it. Take a good hard look at the two and you’ll see that the main feature that differentiates them is the big blingy grille, which is the size of a baseball pitch and is made out of a lot of tiny chromed bars.
Oh, and the hybrid version comes with yet another ginormous grille, with even bigger chunks of chrome to attract attention on the badge, which surprisingly or not it’s not the standard blue-backed Toyota one. Here you got a marque that combines the sword and shield of a medieval knight’s apprentice, the collar of a gentleman’s suit and the “Esq” abbreviation.
Drive a van like a sir
If a high gloss exterior finish with fine silver accents and a massive chromed grille isn’t enough to make you feel special about driving a big rectangular box, the interior may get your attention.
You might say it’s similar to the Noah, but here you get more sober color schemes, a lot more synthetic leather wrappings, including parts of the dashboard, wood grain finishes on the steering wheel and shift knob as well as Piano Black insertions and metallic trimmings.
Large sliding captain chairs are what defines the interior comfort for the first two rows, while the third line of seats adopt an elegant Lexus solution - they’re electrically folding in a vertical position when you don’t need them to make room for different configurations and allow a better cargo distribution.
The standard configuration allows for 8 passengers, while the more elegant solution is designed for 7 people, having two separate mid-row seats. A six-passenger solution is also possible with enough room for two wheelchairs on the Welcab model.
Pointless efficiency
The basic setup that comes on the Esquire is a 2-liter gasoline engine mated to a CVT. Not the most interesting setup in the world, but don’t forget this is a van that carries people in the most economical and stylish way for the money. This way, the FWD version manages a surprising 16 km/L (6.2 l/100 km | 38 mpg) according to the JC08 test cycle and 14.8 km/L (6.7 l/100 km | 35 mpg) for the AWD.
Don’t worry, being a Toyota, the van is also offered with the classical 1.8-liter gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain which averages 23.8 km/L (4.2 l/100 km | 56 mpg).
Just as the ad bellow points out (or not... our Japanese colleague is out of office again and you’ll just have to rely on our intuition) Bruce Wayne would certainly drive an Esquire when not in the Batmobile. That’s how cool this van is for Japan. It’s just like a Mercedes-Benz V Class for the Asian market.
And here’s the problem. All these amenities, beautiful looks and efficiency Toyota really felt the urge to show us in a huge press release is POINTLESS. The Toyota Esquire will be sold only on the Asian market, especially Japan where it will start at just ¥2,727,000 ($24,990/€19,840).
There’s no left-hand-drive version and you won’t find one at your dealership.
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