Toyota HiAce coming in late 2015

Toyota will launch the HiAce commuter vehicle in the second half of 2015. The company recently displayed the HiAce at the Bus and Special Vehicles show to potential business customers. Toyota claims that according to their studies, there is demand for vehicles like the HiAce. The HiAce is a commuter vehicle with seating capacity for 10 people in four rows. It comes with a high roof for the commuter version. A flat roofed HiAce is used as a cargo van internationally but Toyota will not enter that space.

The Toyota HiAce is a fairly large van and is powered by the D4-D 3.0-litre diesel engine possibly borrowed from the Fortuner. In the HiAce however, the engine will pump in only 136PS of power keeping efficiency in mind. It is built on a ladder frame chassis with Mcpherson struts up front and leaf springs at the rear like most commercial vehicles. The HiAce however will come with a 4-speed automatic transmission only and will be pitched as a premium people mover.

To justify its position, the Toyota Hiace will come with a set of premium features like power windows, halogen headlamps, rear view camera, ABS and two airbags. The HiAce will also get wide comfortable seats in all rows as it is almost 1.9 metres wide and about 5.4 metres long.