Thursday 18th January 2018

Toyota launches Land Cruiser Utility

Fed up of fancy pants 4x4s and £150k restomods? Does Toyota have the Land Cruiser for you!

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At the top of the Volvo XC90 range sits the Inscription T8 Twin Engine. It costs £70,405. Crowning the Land Rover Discovery pricelist is the 3.0 V6 HSE Luxury at £68,595. And you'll need £78,955 for an Audi Q7 TDI Vorsprung.

Should those be a bit much for your requirements - unlikely given the seemingly rabid popularity of all luxury SUVs - then Toyota has a solution. As part of the 2018 range facelift, a Utility model has been launched. Available as standard as a three-door manual (with steel wheels), the Land Cruiser Utility is described by Toyota as a "workhorse" and, er, "simple". See, the fripperies have been stripped from the press material as well.

All 2018 Land Cruisers are powered by the familiar 174hp, 2.8-litre diesel, so really this purist spec (and most affordable) version should also be the quickest. At £32,795 for the three-door manual (or £34,095 for five doors, or £35,795 with an auto and the extra doors) it's also the best part of £20k cheaper than a top-of-the-range Invincible. And according to the press release you get two sets of roof rails in addition to the fog lights, air conditioning and CD player. Marvellous.

It's your typical fare for the rest of the range facelift: new equipment, refreshed styling, a greater focus on safety. Nothing radical then, but this is a car built on sturdiness, durability and dependability. The fact it has higher wing top sections now (to better pinpoint the extremities) is probably of more relevance than the redesigned light clusters, reprofiled bumpers and new illumination for the dials.

The new Land Cruiser is on sale now, isn't limited in production and isn't facing a huge waiting list. Should that still be too much of a delay between you and your Land Cruising though, 72 are for sale on PH: no three-door cars, sadly, but this 2002 Amazon looks reassuringly rugged and no-nonsense. It's yours for £15k...

[Jellinek]

Very interesting, but not at all surprising, that Toyota have moved so quickly on the Defender market. I fear that JLR’’s decision to take the Defender upmarket has effectively eroded the bedrock on which the marque is built.
Will be watching the sales numbers of this version very closely over the coming months...