Wait, What? New Land Cruiser Could Still Come to the US
Fans of the Land Cruiser were crushed when Toyota kept it out of the US. But there’s new hope it’ll come back.
When Toyota announced that it wouldn’t offer the Land Cruiser in the United States after 2021, fans were crushed. The move was certainly a strange one, as not only was the Land Cruiser the first Toyota offered for sale on our shores, but it also enjoys a devoted following here.
In the days after the announcement, superstar YouTuber Doug DeMuro called the move “stupid,” and I happen to agree with him. Also, I didn’t buy that Land Cruiser buyers would simply buy the Lexus version. That said, Jack Hollis, executive vice president of sales for Toyota Motor North America, recently told Motor Trend that it was “likely” to return. Here are some of the most relevant bits from that conversation.
Hollis was asked if a storied nameplate like the Land Cruiser would ever make its return stateside, and the answer was promising: ‘Will we ever? I would say likely yes.’
‘Obviously Land Cruiser is such an important part of our heritage and has done such a great job. And I’ll be looking at it, absolutely. Have I seen designs, thoughts, and hopes, yes. But nothing to announce. It’s still a ways off.’
What “a ways off” means is anyone’s guess. But if you were convinced that you’d never get the opportunity to buy a new Land Cruiser ever again, this welcome news.
That said, the smart money says that the current 300 Series might still skip the States. Because it just doesn’t make sense that Toyota would build a U.S.-spec rig, and then not bring it here. Seriously, the Land Cruiser is something that the company doesn’t even need to advertise. The people who want one know exactly what they want. None of them looked at a billboard, went home, Googled “Land Cruiser,” then headed to a Toyota dealer. No way.
So the most likely scenario is that the next time we’ll see a Land Cruiser here, it will be a next-generation model, or a retooled version of the Land Cruiser Prado, which is available in the Japanese and Middle East markets. For folks who aren’t familiar, the Prado is a smaller, less capable Land Cruiser, and bringing it here would allow Toyota to capitalize off the nameplate, while undercutting the price of the Lexus LX 600, which shares its underpinnings with new 300 Series.
Whether that will be enough for fans remains to be seen, but it’s still an interesting development in the long saga of the North American Land Cruiser!
Photos: Toyota
Join the YotaTech forums now!