Toyota’s been locked in low range and on a serious roll lately with their four-wheel drive lineup. The fully re-engineered Tundra and Sequoia hit dealerships last year, and the all-new 2024 Tacoma will be available in the overland-oriented Trailhunter package starting later this fall. The latest Lexus GX model just launched with serious off-road-focused performance options. But there still remains one gaping hole in Toyota’s 4WD inventory: the Land Cruiser.
That may be changing, as a cryptic post from Toyota USA’s Instagram page seems to suggest the legendary nameplate might be making a triumphant return. Toyota ended Land Cruiser sales in 2021 in the United States, refusing to bring the updated 300 Series truck to our shores after Americans collectively bought just 3,100 examples the previous year. For comparison, Toyota sold almost double that number of Tacomas every week in 2020. The Cruiser’s nearly $90,000 asking price didn’t help, especially when you could walk next door to the Lexus dealership and buy the nearly identical LX 570 or LX 600 for similar cash.
2022 Land Cruiser Prado
The Land Cruiser name could suggest a few options for Toyota. Bringing over the 300 Series Land Cruiser seems unlikely; there’s still too much price overlap with Lexus models and the Sequoia (a very expensive vehicle itself) already shares some underpinnings with the newest big J300 Cruiser. In a 4WD dream world, the near-mythical 70 Series Land Cruiser would magically arrive in showrooms with a $45,000 price tag and the Troopy wagon as an option. The overland community would lose its collective mind. But Toyota has steadfastly refused to federalize the 70 Series and will likely never.
That leaves either the global Land Cruiser Prado model or a clean-sheet design (personally, I’d love to see a reboot of the FJ Cruiser). Previous generations of the Prado have been prowling around North American trails disguised as the Lexus GX for many years now, and the new body-on-frame GX undoubtedly has close ties to current and future Prados. Toyota has been tight-lipped about details so far, but it seems likely that we’ll be seeing Prados for the people sooner rather than later. Where, then, does that leave the 4Runner? Sales are still strong for the mid-size SUV, but it’s in desperate need of an update.
Images: Toyota
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