Does the Toyota Alphard belong to FAW or GAC?
4 Answers
Toyota Alphard does not belong to either FAW or GAC. The Alphard is an imported vehicle, not a joint-venture car. It is a high-end luxury MPV model under the Toyota brand. The Alphard has a wheelbase of 3000 mm, with length, width, and height measuring 4975 mm, 1850 mm, and 1945 mm respectively. The Toyota Alphard is equipped with a hybrid powertrain, which includes a 2.5-liter naturally aspirated engine featuring hybrid injection technology and an aluminum alloy cylinder head and block. This engine is paired with two electric motors. The vehicle uses a MacPherson independent suspension at the front and a double-wishbone independent suspension at the rear, enhancing both handling and ride comfort. The double-wishbone suspension also effectively reduces body roll.
The Toyota Alphard is actually not produced by FAW Toyota or GAC Toyota. This vehicle is purely imported, shipped directly from the Japanese production line. I've seen many people driving the Alphard in China, but they all purchased it at GAC Toyota dealerships. GAC Toyota is only responsible for its sales and after-sales services, while the vehicle itself still belongs to Toyota Motor Corporation. The reason for this misunderstanding might be that GAC Toyota has more experience in the commercial vehicle sector, as they are also promoting domestically produced MPVs like the Sienna. However, the Vellfire has now also been integrated into GAC Toyota's sales channels, while FAW Toyota has never handled this model.
The Alphard is not produced by any domestic joint venture factory at all—it belongs to Toyota's imported vehicle lineup. You won't find it in FAW Toyota showrooms; only GAC Toyota 4S stores sell it. This is completely different from domestically produced Toyotas like the Highlander. To put it bluntly, GAC Toyota merely acts as a dealer here—the car is fully imported. Some people mistakenly think that just because it bears the GAC Toyota badge, it's a GAC product—that's a huge misunderstanding. Toyota's brand strategy is quite interesting, assigning all its high-end imported models to the GAC sales channel.
The Toyota Alphard is neither produced by FAW Toyota nor GAC Toyota. It is a fully imported model manufactured in Japan. However, if you want to purchase one in China, you do need to go to a GAC Toyota dealer. It's similar to buying parallel imported vehicles - although dealers sell them, they don't manufacture the cars. So regarding ownership, strictly speaking it belongs to Toyota Japan, with GAC merely acting as the sales channel.
