Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series orders to remain closed for another year

the Toyota Land Cruiser Series 70 The four-wheel drive heavy-duty range will not be available to order for at least another 12 months, says a senior Toyota Australia executive.

However, the company has warned that this is not a sign that the V8 is dead, yet.

“It will be at least 12 months before we can even consider opening order books on the Series 70,” said Sean Hanley, head of sales and marketing for Toyota Australia.

The executive said there was no underlying reason for the sale being suspended, and that the decision to close the order books was designed to give the factory time to catch up with the current order book.

“We’re just being honest,” Mr. Hanley said. “Anything that fits the LandCruiser 70 Series is booming (such as the mining and agriculture sectors) and has also seen an increase in private sales.

“Clearly, if (production) improves and we get more cars, we can reduce waiting times. But at this stage we don’t see anything (opening again) within 12 months.”

Asked if the pause in orders was to remove the V8 production backlog ahead of a rumored switch to V6 turbodiesel power, Mr. Hanley said Ride:

“No, the Series 70 orders are being paused just because we have extraordinary demand that we can’t meet… and in the interest of being fully transparent with the customer, we thought it best to (close the order books). Right now, we have to satisfy our existing customer base.”

Asked if Toyota was still producing the V8 diesel for the Series 70, or had stockpiled a finite supply of engines, Mr. Hanley said: “It’s still in production. We have stopped orders because demand exceeds our supply capacity by a significant margin.”

When asked if there was a plan for the US Toyota Tundra pickup, to be converted locally starting in 2023 for a likely 2024 showroom arrival, to replace the Series 70 in the local lineup Mr. Hanley said:

“No, that’s not part of our plan. There may be some Toyota customers switching over to (Tundra), but it’s very much incremental volume, not replacement, so not at the expense of another model.”