Hyundai Grand Starex facelift launched in Thailand

The Hyundai Grand Starex facelift has been launched in Thailand, where the 11-seater version is called the H-1 and the more luxury MPV-like seven-seater is called the Grand Starex. This comes a couple of months after the big people carrier was introduced in Indonesia.

The Grand Starex facelift gets a new front fascia that ditches the vertical headlights for horizontal trapezoidal items flanking a big grille with horizontal chrome lines. The lower air intake has also been redesigned, while the bonnet is taller. At the back, you’ll find a new lower bumper and distinctive vertical tail lamps with twin LED “ears” as signatures.

The Thai-spec H-1 facelift is available in three trim levels – Touring, Elite and Deluxe – and now comes with features such as automatic climate control, heated/ventilated seats, tilt/telescopic steering wheel and a touchscreen head unit with 360-degree smart view parking in top models.

Also available are auto headlamps, dual powered sliding doors, cruise control, electrochromic rear view mirror, leather steering wheel, roof-mounted LCD screen and puddle lamps, among other goodies. ABS, ESP and four airbags are on the safety kit list. Like the Indonesian-spec car, Thailand does not get the all-new dashboard seen in Hyundai’s domestic market.

The Grand Starex facelift seats less, but offers its passengers more space, and luxury. With one row less, the middle row accommodates two individual captain seats and they face an “entertainment counter” with a big 22-inch screen. Also integrated are storage bins, ambient lighting and a Pioneer DVD player.

Both H-1 and Grand Starex are powered by a carryover 2.5 litre turbodiesel with 175 PS and 441 Nm of torque from 2,000 to 2,250 rpm. The Euro 4 A2 engine is mated to a five-speed automatic transmission sending drive to the rear axle. The Starex rolls on 17-inch wheels, an inch larger than the H-1’s.

Prices range from 1.329 to 1.729 million baht (RM163,554 to RM212,780) for the H-1 and 2.349 to 2.399 million baht (RM289,081 to RM295,228) for the Grand Starex. Sounds expensive to us, but the Hyundai undercuts fellow van-based people carriers such as the Volkswagen Caravelle T6 and Mercedes-Benz V-Class in Thailand. The Toyota Alphard/Vellfire is a more sophisticated proposition.

We detailed the Indonesian-spec Grand Starex facelift at GIIAS 2018 last week. It’s about the same as what Thais get, save for the seven-seater’s entertainment counter. Coming to Malaysia in the near future.

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