Real Land Cruiser or Impostor?
Toyota USA has bolted to its social media outlets to promulgate fabulous news – the Toyota Land Cruiser is set to come back in the United States of America!
The Land Cruiser is making a comeback, and the tagline is different across various platforms. The Facebook page says, “Did you really think we’d be gone for long? The legend returns,” while the Instagram account declares, “Nothing better than a comeback story. The Legend Returns.” Despite the teasers, not much is known about the vehicle itself, aside from a video cycling through classic Land Cruiser badges.
Therefore, the question posed is if we shall be receiving the exact exoteric Land Cruiser 300 – that is would have the simulacra machinery of the Lexus LX – one allegedly stinted of in America for a roomy, more valuable Toyota Sequoia – or will it truly be something else?
Recently, speculation has emerged that the all-recent Lexus GX will be underpinning the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado for other nations like Japan, Africa, and Australia – a regular practice previously seen with respective models. This notion is nothing revolutionary.
Rumors suggested that the Prado moniker was going to be eliminated, with the Toyota version of the GX reverting to its original name as simply the Land Cruiser for it return to America.
Toyota’s newest pronouncement has had many conjecturing if the notion might just be correct. When the first teaser was showcased, we anticipate that soon more facts will become available. Then again, Toyota made everyone wait for months until eventually unveiling the GR Corolla, accompanied by a painful teaser campaign that really did stretch on forever.
There is undoubtedly a sense of class associated with the Land Cruiser, which many will yearn for. Nevertheless, one must ask whether Toyota potentially could be over-burdening the off-road industry?
The LC300 was not imported here due to its high cost and dwindling sales of the Land Cruiser, yet the newly-developed Sequoia adopts the TNGA-F platform, has a turbocharged as well as hybridized V6 engine, plus is equipped with advanced interior technology, all presented in a more agreeable large-scale experience peculiarly crafted for American purchasers.
Were the Land Cruiser 300 available in the United States, there would likely be an overlap with the LX and these two models. Concurrently, this could lead to some degree of cannibalization.
In the event the assumption that the Lexus GX shall be the underlying template for the American Land Cruiser is accurate, Toyota now faces a big puzzle. Shortly in the approaching future will be the much anticipated introduction of the 2024 Toyota 4Runner, which would also utilize the TNGA-F platform and is traditionally associated with comparability in quality similar to the GX. Should they have a GX-based Toyota SUV, it very well could overlap the upcoming 4Runner.
Our concluding postulate is that the GX-based Land Cruiser will preserve its V6 engine, but the 4Runner will move down to containing the turbo and turbo-hybrid fours typically found in the recently released Toyota Tacoma. This shall ensure disparity as far as powertrains go while letting Toyota have an extensive array of cost choices for various off-roading items. Nevertheless, it is yet to be observed if there would be too much overlap between them.
