Orders remain closed for Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series models equipped with the turbo-diesel V8 engine, and it’s unclear when they’ll open.
“V8, we’re filling the orders as we speak,” said Sean Hanley, Toyota Australia’s vice president for sales, marketing and franchise operations.
“We expect to be able to fill those orders. At this stage though, I have no clear vision of that order bank opening anytime soon. We’ve still got a way to go to clear what we’ve got.
“Four-cylinder though on the other hand, definitely open… and the take-up rates are improving by the day.”
Mr Hanley reiterated he didn’t expect orders opening for the V8 “in the foreseeable future”.
“What we are focused on is delivering every single one of those cars to the customers who put orders in,” he said.
At one point, dealers were quoting wait times of four years “or never” for the venerable V8.
Mr Hanley had previously said in February the V8 70 Series was “probably a car you’d look at [removing from Australia] upfront]” when the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) comes into effect.
According to Mr Hanley, the prospect of pulling the plug on the V8 “always existed before NVES, but now it’s probably cemented in our thinking”.
Were it to be cut off, Toyota Australia would then “have to see” how many more it could produce to fulfil back orders.
“Then I think it’s happy days,” Mr Hanley said. “2.8L auto LandCruiser 70, Euro 6 compliant, is our future.”
With 150kW of power and 500Nm of torque, the four-cylinder has just 1kW less power than the V8, but packs 70Nm more torque. It was introduced as part of an update for 2023.
It’s also mated with a six-speed automatic transmission, where the V8 is only offered with a five-speed manual.
Toyota dealers have been reaching out to customers waiting for a V8 to offer them the more readily available four-cylinder model.
The company first announced a pause on orders for the V8 70 Series in July 2022. It confirmed last year it’s expecting to receive around 12,000 cars in 2024, two thirds of which are likely to be the in-demand V8.
