“Alphard killer” this, “Alphard killer” that — but the luxury MPV trend didn’t start with the Alphard; it started with the Nissan Elgrand back in 1997, with the Alphard developed in response five years later. Now, after 16 years of the third-generation E52, the all-new fourth-generation E53 Elgrand has finally launched in Japan.
First publicly shown at last year’s Tokyo Mobility Show, the all-new Nissan Elgrand embodies the marque’s “Timeless Japanese Futurism” design philosophy while retaining the model’s signature boxy silhouette. Like the Nissan Serena, its light signature is integrated into the front grille, which takes design cues from the traditional Japanese Kumiko lattice pattern — a motif that’s mirrored again at the rear in the full-width taillight design.
Buyers get five body colour choices. Four are monotone options — Prism White, Shigoku, Dark Metal Grey and Midnight Black — while the fifth is a premium two-tone finish combining two new colours, Fuji Dawn and Shigoku, essentially a bronze-and-dark-maroon combo.
Step inside and the cabin gets a proper modernisation, headlined by dual 14.3-inch displays for the digital instrument cluster and centre infotainment screen. The Kumiko pattern makes its way indoors too, showing up on the door trims and seats. The car also features a 22-speaker Bose sound system, complete with speakers built directly into the headrests, while up front there are two Qi2.0-standard wireless fast chargers for your devices. The all-new Elgrand is offered exclusively as a seven-seater in a 2-2-3 configuration.
Nissan has thrown in a few comfort-focused touches as well. A smooth stop feature manages braking force to prevent the unwanted jolt when the car comes to a complete stop, while an Advanced Active Noise Cancellation system — a first for Nissan — helps keep the cabin quiet. There are also zero-gravity seats for the middle-row captain’s chairs and the front passenger seat, and Nissan says all three can be reclined into their zero-gravity position simultaneously, even while the car is being driven.
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Being a Nissan, It’s got to be plenty practical as well. Three 100V (1.5kW) AC outlets are on available for V2L functionality, and a halfway sliding-door-open feature helps keep rain out of the cabin on wet days — something that could come in handy for us here in Malaysia. Nissan also claims it has optimised the boot’s opening height and width to make loading and unloading bulky, heavy items easier, though that’s something we’ll have to verify for ourselves.
As for safety, the all-new Nissan Elgrand comes equipped with Nissan’s latest ProPilot driver assistance system, which supports accelerator, brake and steering inputs during single-lane highway driving. The system can also be had with Navi-link, Traffic Jam Hands-Off Mode and Lane Change Support — enabling hands-off driving in congested traffic at speeds of 50 km/h and below, plus Lane Change Support at speeds of 60 km/h and above.
Nissan has still yet to mention detailed powertrain figures but has mentioned it will be runing on its latest third-generation e-Power hybrid system, paired with the upgraded e-4orce dual-motor all-wheel-drive setup. It’s a similar setup to the one found in the latest Nissan X-Trail e-Power, previewed at KLIMS 2026, which pairs a 1.5-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine acting as a generator with a 1.8kWh lithium-ion battery and two electric motors, together producing 204 hp and 330 Nm sent to all four wheels.
The all-new Nissan Elgrand is priced from JPY6,897,000 (approx. RM174k) for the X e-Force and JPY7,579,000 (approx. RM191k) for the G e-Force. For context, the recently updated Nissan Serena is priced from JPY2,785,200 (approx. RM70k). In Malaysia, the Nissan Serena, launched only with the e-Power powertrain, is priced from RM154,800 on the road and without insurance.
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