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You get a job, you get married, and then you have kids. Hopefully in that order. You watch your first child open his or her eyes for the first time and curiously look around the ward. And everything changes - you cease to be a manager or senior manager or whatever fancy corporate title you hold at your office. Your primary job title has now become provider and protector of your family.

It's no longer about horsepower, torque and acceleration times from now on. It's all about making sure your family is able to travel in the most comfortable and safest vehicle you can afford. And for the longest time, the well-to-do family man has been shopping at grey importers for his weapon of choice. It's not an uncommon sight to see a sea of white or silver MPVs imported from Japan parked at these dealerships. Now, the official importers are having a go to get some market share as well.

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Malaysian Nissan distributor Edaran Tan Chong Motor was one of the first to officially enter this segment with the launch of the Nissan Elgrand in Malaysia back in 2012. UMW Toyota followed later with the Alphard this year, and ETCM followed up by quickly bringing in the latest facelift of the Elgrand, which was globally unveiled at last year's Tokyo Motor Show.

These large luxury MPVs such as the Toyota Alphard and Nissan Elgrand are displacing traditional choices at the RM300k-RM400k range, which used to belong exclusively to Euro sedans and SUVs.

Look after the jump for our experience with the new Nissan Elgrand.