Toyota Estima Product name – Estima and Estima Hybrid Category – Automotive NXT technology used – SurfaceSound Region – Japan Price – From ¥2,667,000 Available from – www.toyota.jp

Description –

The Toyota Estima is the first mass-produced vehicle to be fitted with NXT technology as standard. The stylish Estima is Toyota’s latest minivan and is equipped with many innovative features. It focuses around a luxurious cabin designed to offer passengers maximum comfort levels and class-leading entertainment options during journeys.

It boasts a clean and open interior, accented by a high-tech-looking central panel and ‘club-style’ second-row seats (complete with built-in footrests). It is also equipped with power foldaway third-row seats, enabling a complete transformation of the interior in seconds from luxury MPV to spacious minivan at the touch of a button.

The Estima’s impressive entertainment system is designed to increase the performance level of music and films and incorporates a full-length NXT-enabled roof liner to dramatically enhance the sound. The NXT loudspeaker system delivers a truly immersive audio field to envelope passengers in rich, high quality sound.

Two separate sound systems, built around the NXT-equipped roof liner, are available and depend on model specification:

1) Estima Panoramic Super Live Sound System – 11 loudspeakers (four NXT speakers (roof liner), one centre channel and six conventional speakers), DSP for high quality sound even in the rear seats, HDD navigation system with sound library

2) Estima Panoramic Live Sound System – eight loudspeakers (two NXT speakers (roof liner) and six conventional speakers), HDD navigation system with sound library

Update -

Since it's launch, the Toyota Estima has proved to be one of the most popular new vehicles in Japan. In a consumer survey conducted by The Daily Yomiuri, one of Japan's most resepcted newspapers, and NTT Resonant, the Estima was ranked only second to the Lexus GS450H Hybrid. However, it ranked first in the minivan category and was the number one choice amongst 30- and 40-year-olds with small children.

June 2006 Toyota introduces a new hybrid version of the Estima. Boasting one of the world's highest fuel efficiency performances and cleanest exhaust emissions in the minivan class, the redesigned Estima Hybrid is also fitted with an NXT-based roof liner loudspeaker system.

In addition, the Estima Hybrid exceeded its first month's sales target by almost seven times. Between 12 June and 11 July, the expected target was 700 units; the incoming orders placed production at 4,700 units.