Rest in Peace to an Off-Road Icon
Take a long last look.
If we get any sort of
Land Cruiser in the
future, it likely won’t
have a V-8 engine; we
anticipate a turbo-six.PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVEN PHAMIntake
NEWSI OPINIONI GOSSIPI STUFFW
hen was the last time you
saw a Toyota Land Cruiser?
You can’t go a block without
seeing multiple 4Runners, Highlanders,
Tacomas, and RAV4s—or even the occa-
sional Sequoia—but spotting any genera-
tion of Land Cruiser is a rarity. For all its
name recognition and iconic history, there
just aren’t that many running around the
U.S. And after the 2021 iterations are built,
there will be no new ones sold here, either,
at least for a while.We first heard rumblings of the Land
Cruiser’s U.S. demise more than a year
ago when multiple Toyota sources hinted
that the Land Cruiser was in trouble.
At the time, Toyota PR denied any such
possibility existed, but the automaker
has finally acknowledged its legendary
nameplate is leaving American dealer-
ships soon:
“The Toyota Land Cruiser has been a
legendary name for more than 60 years,”
Toyota said in a statement. “While it will
be discontinued in the United States
after the 2021 model year, we remain
committed to the large SUV segment and
will continue to explore future products
that celebrate the Land Cruiser’s rich
off-road history. We encourage loyal
enthusiasts and intrepid adventurers to
stay tuned for future developments.”
The most recent Land Cruiser, known
as the 200 Series, dates back to the 2008
model year, with just 35,000 sold since in
the U.S.—the highest annual sales were
in 2008, with 3,801. Availability was
definitely a compounding issue for the
North American Land Cruiser—globalToyota Land Cruiser Dead—For Now
factory capacity for the Land Cruiser
can’t increase without building or
retooling a new assembly location,
meaning every market fights over the
same annual volume.
Of course, this isn’t the end for the
Land Cruiser elsewhere, as it continues in
other world markets. Toyota’s statement
leaves open the possibility of a return
sometime in the near future—if not a
vehicle with the LC name, perhaps one
with its spirit. Monica Gonderman