Dinosaur No More - Toyota To Kill Legendary Land Cruiser

If Toyota turning the BMW Z4 into a Supra you can't really claim current management cares at all about heritage. Their longest running nameplate in the USA for sure, but with 3,300 units sold annually in recent years it is a blip on the sales charts. At $89,000 it does not really fit the Toyota lineup of everyday cars, CUV's and Trucks for regular people. It will live on as a stripped out plain SUV in other markets.

This isn't the end of the nameplate in the United States. It's going to be on hiatus at the time being until closer to mid-decade when it might be reintroduced, which also leaves the possibility they might cancel what's currently on the table Land Cruiser in USA.

Hopefully they modernize the LX. My wife wanted one and we got a 2017. The ride is very smooth but it is such a difficult vehicle to live with on a daily basis. The legroom is horrible for such a large vehicle (kids are constantly kicking the drivers seat because they don’t have enough room), 2nd row seating position is uncomfortable for adults after an hour or so, third row is not good, the tech is terrible and it is a chore to manuver in tight parking areas. We just decided to trade it in for a BMW X7. Two positives is that the fit/finish and build quality is the best I have ever seen and the resale value is excellent.

At the asking price, the Landcruiser is completely uncompetitive. There are so many other better driving SUVs in that price range with far better electronics and ergonomics.

Toyota should bring back the Land Cruiser as a better competitor to the Suburban, Yukon, and Expedition if they want to compete

Are you neglecting the fact that the Sequoia will migrate to the TNGA-F architecture in two years as a 2023 model? Land Cruiser is only going to get smaller and not bigger when it returns after this hiatus.

Toyota does not want to sell a 300 series in Toyota showrooms in the United States because they've learned a hard lesson about selling a luxury Cruiser in the United States and not keeping it cutting edge. They cannot keep the 200 series in production just to sell it a few more years for Americans, thus Land Cruiser will not be available for model year 2022 and 2023.

If they make it suburban sized they lose the off-road capabilities. The land cruiser is a huge seller in overseas markets where people need that capability.

Are you neglecting the fact that the Sequoia will migrate to the TNGA-F architecture in two years as a 2023 model? Land Cruiser is only going to get smaller and not bigger when it returns after this hiatus.

Toyota does not want to sell a 300 series in Toyota showrooms in the United States because they've learned a hard lesson about selling a luxury Cruiser in the United States and not keeping it cutting edge. They cannot keep the 200 series in production just to sell it a few more years for Americans, thus Land Cruiser will not be available for model year 2022 and 2023.

Sorry mamba, meant to reply to above.

Sorry, typo: *malba (stupid autocorrect)

Although it seems that Akio Toyoda changes his mind at the drop of a hat, there is more to be announced much later.

The dealer source is correct about the 200 series based Land Cruiser going out of production (FYI in May 2021), as production started in August of this year (launched now) and will ship out the last units to US dealers in July 2021.

It has been proposed to decrease the Land Cruiser price and focus it as a 5-seater hardcore off-roader for the United States, offering the best in Toyota capability above 4Runner.

This is what I was told last year in 2019 and kept mum about it because of the nature of the information being privileged.

I was also told by this individual that the vehicle would not arrive within the next two years, as it was still undetermined when it would launch. 2023-24 was the target, which ironically when the Prado is redesigned.

From that point on it became obvious that the 300 series is going to be launched globally in mid 2021, but will not be available in United States as a Toyota.

It will no longer be the luxurious flagship family SUV that doubles as a beast within.

I don't know what kind of final execution it will have, but it will be $25-30k less than the current one. Question is if there is even a customer for that, but we'll see.

Motor1 reported some of what I said back in February, but much of information they did state was taken a little bit out of context and misconstrued even further by other news outlets. Especially by dumbass Australian outlets, who seem to miss that USA Toyota offerings doesn't mean Toyota Australia has the same dictates. 300-Series LC is non-US for now, where as Sequoia will be redesigned and remain as a large utility.

TBA on what will replace the Land Cruiser in USA, as that's 3-4 years out.

@Carmaker1 - I always thought the Landcruiser Prado would make a perfect step up for 4Runner buyers. A cleaner design than the GX460 and very capable.

The 4Runner, Prado, Land Cruiser/LX are products that would make sense under a Land Cruiser brand.

Toyota and Lexus do softroaders.

The following would be my suggestion.

Heritage-styled Land Cruiser NameGoesHere aimed at the Wrangler/bronco

Heritage-styled--but less so--4Runner/Prado type of vehicle aimed a the Grand Cherokee.

Large model aimed at Range Rover/Wagoneer.

I always thought so too and suggested that Toyota replace the LC200 for USA with the 180-Series next generation Prado coming up. Something is underway, but too early to discuss.

I vastly prefer my 6-Speed Manual 2018 Prado in West Africa over the 4Runner, which is my sole modern personal vehicle in that region.

My Prado is a perfect bridge between Lexus and the drive I get in my Tacoma TRD Pro (also 6MT) and comfortable on the bumpy roads of Nigeria and West Africa.

I would never buy a Lexus GX460, but I am happily a Prado owner and hate that I must always leave it behind, when coming back to the States. The 4Runner is nothing remarkable to me, even if similar.

Toyota Motor Co. always gives the goodies to the Prado before GX460 or 4Runner, so it's future is 100% secure. GX had to be revisited for the next generation, as it was dead before sales shot up.

The idea for a Land Cruiser brand has always been one that I have liked, but Toyota thinks there's only room for Lexus. Land Cruiser brand exists, but only as a non-USA sub-brand since roughly 1990:

Land Cruiser V8/Amazon
Land Cruiser (Prado)
Land Cruiser 70-Series


The time to introduce a Land Cruiser brand (ala Land Rover) in USA was the upscale Land Cruiser 80-Series launched in 1990, before the Lexus LX 450 was a twinkle in any eye.

Toyota USA execs in the 1990s, were so oblivious, that it took until 1993 to even hypothesize the slapped together LX 450 for January 1996 launch.

That should've been the moment, to create a Land Cruiser brand alongside Lexus dealers. A Japanese spokesperson said in 1996, if Lexus existed in 1960s, the Land Cruiser wouldn't be a Toyota ever and only LX would exist.

The stubborn pride of the Toyoda family in the their last name presiding over Century, Crown, and Land Cruiser will never convince them to let ot go.

Lexus is now paying for Akio Toyoda's hidden disdain for the nameplate and splurging on Toyota badged vehicles instead.

His elders and predecessors were insulted in 1986, when white Toyota USA execs advised them wisely, a new luxury brand needed to be created to sell a RWD, V8-powered unibody luxury sedan and the Toyota badge wasn't good enough. The Toyodas were livid, yet reluctantly agreed to the Lexus nameplate.

LFA was ordered in 1999 as a Toyota Supra replacement, not a Lexus. LC 500 is the only Lexus Toyoda even cares for. Everything else is FWD cash cow or an afterthought to him.

Land Cruiser needs to be a BRAND positioned like Land Rover and sold at Lexus dealers.

The current Toyota Land Cruiser is a mockery of the name.

The land cruiser/LX should move to a 2 row SUV like the G Class/Range rover. After living with one for 4 years, there is just too much compromise made for that useless third row. Even with average size driver the 2nd row legroom is pretty bad.

A land cruiser sub-brand sold at Lexus dealers with the 2 door Prado, 4 door Prado and full size LC would be a legitimate contender.

Land Cruiser is a pretty great brand, right up there with Jeep, it would be pretty silly just to shut it down in the US.

The only problem is that Toyota isn't smart enough to make it a brand.

They've really mismanaged the nameplate and have their heads stuck...

The desperation to make Toyota a full-line manufacturer and honor the Toyoda family name, is what hurts the Land Cruiser in the USA, as well give Lexus a launching pad for SUVs.

The Land Cruiser FJ40 was used to give the Toyota nameplate credibility, when the 50s junk they imported originally was a joke.

It made it possible for the Corolla and Corona to be successes, which the latter became the Camry in FWD.

Then came the Lexus brand that needed an SUV, when Ford announced development of UN173 Navigator in 1993-94. RX wasn't due until 1998 and LX 470 the same, so Land Cruiser was used to give it credibility as LX 450.

In the end, the Land Cruiser was cannalbilized from all sides.

4Runner is so redundant, just so a few bros can have a sliding rear window to blow out their vape juice.

Prado is a vastly better drive and is more worth paying $40k for.