The Return of the Land Cruiser?

Saw this video a few weeks ago, haven't seen anyone mention the possibility of the Land Cruiser coming back.

https://youtu.be/zzzQcMGRgW8

I for one, would like to see it return as an off-roader rather than a high end luxury SUV.

Thoughts?

 

Yes, it's true. With FJ Cruiser production ending, this will replace it in a sense for MY 2024, globally. Have heard about this since 2019, finally someone other than me is talking about it publicly. I'm not the only one who knew, but plenty who did, refused to speak on it nor the 2024 GX 550. Now it's coming out, thanks to the dealer body coming clean about it. Too bad the 4Runner is still 2 years out.

 

This is what is coming.

 

Not quite, VJA300 is not being sold here nor is a TJA300 either.

 

It will be interesting to see where this falls. I have owned almost every US model of LC, except the iron pig and the 200 series.
Easily my favorite vehicles I have owned/own.
I would love to see a new gen that would make me want to jump onboard again.

 

I saw this last week. Fully restored, looked showroom new inside and out. I can't afford it, only drool over it. If they bring it back I want something like this.

 

I would certainly rather see it return as an off-roader versus the high end luxury SUV it became.

 

Memories … my dad bought one of these back in my Boy Scout days (he was our troop leader). it was great for camping trips. A very uncomfortable in town everyday vehicle but we didn’t care.

 

Whoa!

 

Thing is, I don’t see Toyota coming out with something new in the next few years because they just released this gen LC.

 

Thank you for this post, as it serves a good reference to my next point. Toyota created this 50-Series, to get in on the family 4x4 wagon segment. The 60-Series was an evolution of that, straddling the line between premium and mainstream. After seeing what 60-Series customers were doing and dropping the smaller LC for 4Runner, this is where the Land Cruiser adopted this lineage as the sole offering stateside, as the nameplate reached 30 years in the States. That...has ended with the 200. The evolution of the nameplate into being bigger and more luxurious each time, has hit a rock wall. The rest of the world buys into it still, due to lack of a Lexus sales channel, but Americans want where the 50& 60-Series left off, married to the 70-Series.

Unfortunately that wouldn't be correct, as my information is strongly informed. I knew about this, well before I knew about the Grand Highlander (entering production in May 2023). The Land Cruiser nameplate isn't solely the province of the full-sized flagship offering in the 50/60/80/200/300 lineage, as it has been since the 40-Series was discontinued for USA in 1983. Toyota is changing course with it, as I first learned back in 2019. The business case for a large and luxurious Land Cruiser like the 300, just doesn't make sense here. The gravy train from the 80 and 100 era, is no longer sensible next to Lexus and SUV competition.

It's pulling teeth already to redesign it as a midsize vehicle, when you have 4Runner to contend with. Anyway, that's what will happen. The Lexus LX 600, is the Land Cruiser they've always wanted to solely offer in North America. Lexus as a brand just came too late. If Lexus existed before the 80-Series or even 60-Series came to market, it wouldn't be a Land Cruiser. The FJ40 and 70-Series are the core Land Cruiser models, everything else is additional or a substitute, due to trade barriers/tariffs.

From January 1996 per Lexus USA

I keep seeing this come up, because most North Americans are somewhat stuck on the nameplate being the flagship of the USA Toyota range. It will no longer be that, but now the performance-focused halo of Toyota 4x4s, similar to the Jeep Wrangler for Jeep brand. Not a luxurious flagship. It is not going to cost as much as the 300-Series nor 200-Series, but it absolutely won't be cheap either. This will start in the $50s, whereas whereas the 2024 GX will go up several thousand dollars to space them out and be around $65k. Look at how much the Defender 110 I6 costs and that's the 2024 GX 550 base price. It will reach close to $90k, where the LX 600 starts. That's fair, since the Defender 110 tops out at around $110k ironically enough.

I'm not sure how Toyota intends to package the 2025 4Runner, because this Land Cruiser now to my knowledge will also have an optional 3rd row. I didn't know this back in 2019, when I heard it would be back to basics and 5-seater only like the then-new 2020 Heritage Edition, but a completely different animal together. It's everything a Toyota 4x4 enthusiast would want, save for powertrain choice (no V8, no I6). This new model is a modernized 70-Series/40-Series, since the 70-Series picked up where FJ40 left off. From 60-Series to 300, that lineage has always been a premium product above all 4x4s. Only the G-Class and Range Rover rival it. Stripped down, the biggest Land Cruisers have been no different than the cloth seat Benz S-Classes of yore. High build quality and prestige.



North American Specification 1985 Land Cruiser J71 Prototype


Current ROW J71

 

If it ends up looking like an FJ, I might just have to order one lol

 

I love my old ‘76 FJ. Has been a fun vintage wheeler. Impressive where this little truck will go!
Also have an ‘07 FJC as a throw back.
I had a ‘93 fj80 that was superior in many ways, then I did a stupid mod converting it from AWD to (2wd/4wd selectable) and it ruined the experience for me. Might have been the most capable off-road machine I owned as far as driving it to the trails and back home.

 

I would be all over this

 

Inshallah.

 

Toyota posted on instagram - gonna be good, whatever it is

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CtasgURO6UO/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==

 

Some people on the Internet are claiming that it would be the Prado, not the 300, which would beg the question are they going to bother to bring back the 4runner since they occupy a similar space in international markets?

 

Teaser pic posted today

 

Looks like an 80.