Toyota Confirms The Current Land Cruiser Will Retire After 2021

Toyota confirms the current Land Cruiser will retire after 2021

Toyota confirmed a rumor we first caught wind of earlier in 2020 by announcing that the current-generation Land Cruiser will retire after the 2021 model year. The next-generation model will be introduced in the coming months, but we're receiving mixed signals about whether the nameplate will return to the United States.

Launched in 2007 as a 2008 model, and updated twice since, the J200-generation Land Cruiser (pictured) is about to enter its 14th year on the market. It's a senior citizen by industry standards, so its demise isn't surprising, 2 million units that year.

Toyota Land Cruiser Leaving The American Market After 2021

Toyota Land Cruiser leaving the American market after 2021

Act fast if you want to explore the outdoors in a new Toyota Land Cruiser. It seems 2021 will be the current-generation SUV's last model year on the American market, according to a recent report, and it's not coming back.

An anonymous dealer source confirmed the off-roader's demise to Motor Authority. "Unfortunately it's gone, which I'm pretty bummed about. It's a punch to the gut for all of us enthusiasts who love the product. There's no illusion it's coming back, and it's completely dead for the moment, " the incognito employee told the publication.

Toyota 4runner Vs Toyota Land Cruiser Vs Toyota Rav4 Trd Off-road Suspension Flex Test

Toyota 4Runner vs Toyota Land Cruiser vs Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road Suspension Flex Test

As I sit down to write this, it's dawning on me that I have owned all three of these vehicles at one point or another. The Toyota 4Runner TRD Off-Road is the one that currently shades my driveway. You've seen it before. Twice.

But I actually brought my wife and newborn daughter home from the hospital in a 1996 Toyota RAV4, a four-door model with a manual transmission, lockable center differential and a Torsen rear differential. It may have looked like a hiking boot, but it handled like a rally car on my dirt road commute, which was so utterly deserted I could fully exploit the route's numerous corners and float over its perfectly-shaped jump.

Toyota Land Cruiser Vs Lexus Lx 570 Suspension Flex Test | Measuring Suspension Articulation On An Rti Ramp

Toyota Land Cruiser vs Lexus LX 570 Suspension Flex Test | Measuring suspension articulation on an RTI ramp

There's no need to explain the Toyota Land Cruiser, one of Toyota's earliest successful products. The 2020 Toyota Land Cruiser Heritage Edition celebrates some 60 years of popularity of a vehicle that has survived the segment's "mall wagon" phase and the rise of crossovers. Its already-sterling reputation has received an additional recent push from the rise of overlanding — an outdoor pastime that has always existed but only recently got a press agent.

By comparison, the Lexus LX is a more recent development. Debuting in 1996, the LX 470 was little more than an 80-series Land Cruiser with cladding, a Lexus badge and a higher price. The amount of styling differentiation and luxury specialization has increased over the years to the point that the newest LX 570 actually seems like a completely different vehicle.

Watch A Toyota Land Cruiser Shred Sand Dunes In Abu Dhabi

Watch a Toyota Land Cruiser shred sand dunes in Abu Dhabi

Johnny Schaer, known by his brand name Johnny FPV, zoomed onto our radar back in 2018 when he captured drifting with some of the best drone footage and handling we've ever seen. Based in Chicago, he's a drone racer and specialist who also uses his skills to create first-person video content that's unlike anything seen before. His most recent video, which dropped this week, explores all parts of Abu Dhabi, from the city to the track to the dunes.

The first Johnny FPV video we posted was strictly about Formula Drift, as was the second one we posted in 2019. While those clips were restricted to a racetrack, this video is a little different. Edited by New York City-based Jake Irish and set to a soundtrack from the two-brothers band Two Lanes, "Sandscape" visits Abu Dhabi's vast environment from an aerial perspective. 

2021 Toyota Land Cruiser Hybrid, Non-hybrid Specifications

2021 Toyota Land Cruiser hybrid, non-hybrid specifications

The rumors claiming the next generation of Toyota's gargantuan Land Cruiser will surf the industry's downsizing wave are getting louder. The off-roader will get a high-tech makeover, but it will remain as rugged as ever.

In 2020, the Land Cruiser is available with a gasoline-powered V8 in the United States, among other markets, and with a diesel-burning V8 in countries like Australia. All signs point to both eight-cylinders retiring along with the current-generation model. Japanese magazine Best Car learned Toyota will argue there's a replacement for displacement by making the Land Cruiser available with a twin-turbocharged V6 engine borrowed from Lexus.

Widow Sues State Over Land-sale Scandal

Widow sues state over land-sale scandal

The widow of an ex-finance ministry official, who committed suicide after he was forced to falsify ministry documents, has filed a lawsuit. She is demanding damages from the government and former chief of the ministry's financial bureau, Nobuhisa Sagawa, who allegedly instructed her husband to falsify the documents.

The suit was filed with a court in Osaka, western Japan, on Wednesday, seeking about 110 million yen, or over 1 million dollars.

Land Rover Defender Reportedly Will Spawn Smaller, Bigger Models

Land Rover Defender reportedly will spawn smaller, bigger models

Land Rover promoted the Defender nameplate to one of its brand pillars; the others are Discovery and Range Rover. It's planning to build a full line of models around the born-again off-roader, including smaller crossovers.

Australian website Which Car learned the British firm is in the early stages of designing an aluminum-intensive platform it will use to underpin smaller models. One will borrow styling cues from the second-generation Defender (pictured) to take on the Jeep Renegade, a move which would push Land Rover further downmarket than it's been in many years. Another will slot in the Range Rover family, below the Evoque, as an alternative to the Audi Q2 sold overseas and the Mercedes-Benz GLA. Sister company Jaguar might use the architecture, too.