2022 Toyota Land Cruiser Strong Demand Extends Waiting Time To A Year

Toyota unveiled the new Land Cruiser only a couple of months ago and it already has a backlog of orders that will keep it busy for the next 12 months. Granted, the Japanese automaker had been accepting reservations prior to the LC300's debut, and it would appear many of them have been converted to actual orders. Japanese magazine Car Watch reports that placing an order today will require at least one year of patiently waiting to take delivery.

It goes to show a lot of people have been waiting for Toyota to finally replace the LC200, which had been around since 2007. The strong customer demand is impressive if you take into account the new fullsize, body-on-frame SUV has not been introduced in all markets yet. When that happens, the order books should get even thicker.

The United States is not going to be one of those markets as Toyota has decided to pull the plug on the Land Cruiser in North America. It means buyers will have to step up to the next-generation Lexus LX, which should go on sale for the 2023 model year. Hopefully, the company will change its mind one day and bring back the Land Cruiser to lower the asking price as some are more interested in its off-road capabilities than the posh interior you get with the LX.

It's worth noting production of the new Land Cruiser is temporarily halted (August 5-6) at the Yoshiwara factory in Japan due to a parts shortage caused by the spread of the coronavirus infection in southeast Asia. It also impacts the LC200-based Lexus equivalent as well as the LC70, which despite its venerable age, will remain in production. In fact, Toyota just launched a special edition of the 37-year-old SUV to mark the nameplate's 70th anniversary. It's available in Australia where the Land Cruiser LC70 will get an update in 2022, bringing improved safety and even more hauling capabilities.

If you're wondering how much the LC300 costs, the all-new SUV retails for 5,100,000 yen (about $46,500) in Japan for the base gasoline-fueled model and rises to 8,000,000 yen ($73,000) for the diesel engine in the GR Sport trim. That seems fairly reasonable seeing as how the last hurrah of the SUV in the United States, the Heritage Edition, was priced at nearly $90,000 or practically Lexus LX money.