New Toyota Land Cruiser follows Dutch example in US

The new Toyota Land Cruiser, which gets the hands of many with its retro appearance, costs about €55,000 in the United States. This is of course unthinkable in the tax-ridden Netherlands, but the car also seems to be a bargain in the US. The last time a Toyota Land Cruiser was on the American price list was for model year 2021. It then cost almost $ 90,000 without options and disappeared ingloriously from the price list after 2021, after which the US Land Cruiser was left behind. Up to now.

The last Toyota Land Cruiser available in the US was the J200, which was available with us until 2016 as ‘Land Cruiser V8’.

The huge price drop has everything to do with the fact that Toyota carries two different model lines of the Land Cruiser. The model that disappeared in 2021 was the ‘real’ Land Cruiser, the full-size executioner that only came with eight cylinders. The new one is also known internationally as Land Cruiser Prado and is a smaller model with mostly V6 power on board. Toyota now and in the past only supplies one of those two Land Cruisers in the United States, so simply calls both models ‘Land Cruiser’. This creates a situation that is very similar to the Dutch one, because also with us the Land Cruiser Prado is simply called ‘Land Cruiser’ due to the lack of other Land Cruisers. The large Land Cruiser was available with us until 2016, but was then sold as ‘Land Cruiser V8’.

Away from Sequoia

Toyota Sequoia.

With the arrival of the new ‘Prado’, Toyota is not supplying the largest, but rather the more compact Land Cruiser in the US. The full-size ‘J300’ presented in 2021 is not available. That seems a somewhat remarkable choice for the country where everything always seems to have to be bigger, but it can be explained. After all, for those looking for space in a Toyota SUV, there is the Sequoia there, the SUV brother of the immense Tundra pickup that you sometimes see driving in the Netherlands. Next to a Land Cruiser, such a Sequoia loses out when it comes to off-road capabilities, but it does offer more space and practicality. In practice, the sales figures of the previous Land Cruiser were therefore disappointing, because the car was only considered by people who appreciated the indestructible image and off-road capability of the model. With the new, smaller Land Cruiser, that group is now still served, but at a lower price.

Problem moved

Toyota 4Runner.

This means that the problem of two models in one segment has not disappeared, but has been moved. Toyota is also very successful in North America with the 4Runner, which with its size, approach and price is quite in the waters of the new Land Cruiser. The 4Runner is also mainly bought for its toughness and flies out of the showroom especially in the extra rough TRD Pro version. Some cannibalism seems inevitable here, which suggests that Toyota will provide more distinction with a future new 4Runner.

Lexus

Does that end the story? No. Secretly, the new, large J300 Land Cruiser is indeed available in the US, but as a Lexus LX. And while the Land Cruiser Prado has never been available as such in North America, Lexus has been supplying a more luxurious version of that car to American buyers for years as the Lexus GX. Also, there is a new one. It is again based on the Land Cruiser Prado, but appeared a few months earlier.