Good news to Malaysians who label themselves as very important! The long-awaited all-new 2023 Toyota Alphard will be launching in Japan very soon and there are leaked photos of both it and the all-new Vellfire circulating around the internet.

The latest set of photos began making waves across Japanese social media as it is rumoured that the all-new AH40 Alphard/Vellfire could be launched in the country around the middle of the year.

Based on these photos, the all-new Alphard will be keeping its iconic shield-like front grille but what’s interesting on the front is the logo. The leaked photo shows the white MPV wearing a regular Toyota ellipses logo instead of the Alphard badge. Is Toyota discontinuing the badge and giving the Alphard a regular logo or perhaps this unit is destined for international markets?

Also read: Is that you, all-new 2023 Toyota Alphard? Mysterious MPV emerges online

Meanwhile, the rear also retains much of the design from the outgoing AH30 generation and its design is also similar to the leaked video shown at a staff training session in China back in February. The block-like pattern on the front continues around the back with the taillights, perhaps a theme for the all-new luxury breadbox on wheels.

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Next is the all-new Vellfire which as it turned out won’t be discontinued despite being a poor seller in Japan. The black AH40 Vellfire appears sportier with chrome trims surrounding the bottom. The chrome front grille meanwhile is reminiscent of the Toyota GrandAce/Majesty and Toyota Noah in terms of look.

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Just like how the Alphard retains the shield-like front grille, the all-new Vellfire also carries over the split headlights design from previous generations. As the Vellfire never had its own logo after Toyota merged all its sales channels in Japan as one, it has the standard Toyota logo placed in front.

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Moving on to the rear of the all-new Vellfire and unlike the previous generations, there are some distinguishable features compared to the Alphard. The taillights on the Vellfire appear sharper with a standard-looking layout and there are more chrome trims than the Alphard.

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Also, if you zoom into the photo of the rear, you can see two badges sticking out on the Vellfire - HEV and E-Four. Based on these clues, the Vellfire shown is a hybrid four-wheel drive (4WD) variant.

The all-new Alphard and Vellfire are built on the TNGA-K platform and will likely share the same powertrains as the one announced for the Lexus LM. On the Lexus "Luxury Mover", two engines were announced - a 2.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder, or a 2.5-litre naturally aspirated hybrid four-cylinder - though power output remains unknown.

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The all-new Alphard and Vellfire are expected to be launched in Japan around the middle of the year before being introduced in other markets. Though the all-new pair of breadboxes on wheels could eventually be making its way into Malaysia, many important-sounding folks would likely be making a beeline to their recond dealers once the pair makes their global debut.

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