2024 Toyota Land Cruiser SUV Is a Shrewd, Risky Move Down Market

• The 2024 Land Cruiser is in the spotlight after a three-year hiatus and having been fully redesigned for the US market for the first time since 2008.

• The new Land Cruiser arrives in showrooms this spring, and it’s possible the look and feel of the ho-hum interior are less important than this SUV’s off-road chops, which certainly are impressive.

• Starting at $57,345 in 1958 trim with destination charges, the new Land Cruiser uses a standard 326-hp i-Force Max hybrid powertrain driven by a capable 2.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder.

There was a time in the 1960s when the term “SUV” was new and fresh, applied to rugged body-on-frame off-roaders like Jeeps, the Ford Bronco, and the original Land Rover and Chevy K5 Blazer—adventure vehicles for climbing rocks and crossing streams.

Today the “sport/utility vehicle” name has been diluted to encompass all manner of high-riding car-based family haulers that fill suburban parking lots and certainly lean toward the utility side of the equation, with few ambitions for dusty, sweaty, trail adventuring.

It's good to see certain brands still making and marketing actual SUVs with chassis rigid enough to creep through treacherous terrain with one wheel well off the ground, maybe two. And it’s not just Detroit brands—particularly Jeep—delivering the necessary sheetmetal, rock rails and skidplates for enthusiasts.

Toyota’s been selling the Land Cruiser in North America since 1958, and there’s an all-new 4Runner on the way. Can a re-engineered FJ Cruiser be far behind? For now, it’s the 2024 Land Cruiser in the spotlight after a three-year hiatus and having been fully redesigned for the US market for the first time since 2008.

The previous-generation J-200 Land Cruiser was a low-volume offering, never cracking 4000 units annually in the US, partly due to the restrictive pricetag starting above $85,000.

But Toyota bosses have hatched a strategy that could crank up Land Cruiser sales: They cut the base price $30,000. Is there an easier way to move the metal?

This approach carries a certain level of risk. That cost has to come from somewhere, and it appears the interior was a prime target. The previous Land Cruiser was luxurious on the inside, offering natural wood accents, brushed aluminum, and supple leather.

A few days in 2024 Land Cruisers driven on an undulating off-road trail at Vogt Ranch near San Diego reveals the base model in 1958 trim with a sea of hard, black plastic, industrial-grade dark gray fabric seats, few stylistic flourishes, and brushed metallic accents so rare they can be counted on one hand.

The product planners must believe there are a lot of people who would buy a Land Cruiser if only it were less expensive and won’t mind being tossed about on the trail with elbows hitting hard plastic door trim.

Should Land Cruiser Interior Lean toward Luxury?

If off-roaders like their Jeep Wranglers and Broncos to be bare-bones (each base priced below $40,000), perhaps the Land Cruiser can tempt some of those shoppers at the upper end, starting at $57,345 in 1958 trim with destination charges.

So you might be thinking, if the 1958 version is decidedly down market, the uplevel must be pretty nice, right? But no, the upscale Land Cruiser grade (mystifyingly sold as “Land Cruiser” or “core Land Cruiser”) barely shows any design imagination on the inside, except for the perforated leather, more padding on the door trim, and a few available brushed bronze accents on the steering wheel, center console, and instrument panel.

Pricing for this core Land Cruiser starts at $63,345 with destination, and there is a handsome java brown leather package that adds some visual spice.

But if that $30,000 price cut is a lower priority for you than a more luxurious experience, then consider the Land Cruiser First Edition, starting at $76,345 and available only to the first 5000 hand raisers.

Once those First Edition models sell out, Toyota expects the sales volume to be skewed 80% to core Land Cruiser and the remaining 20% picking the 1958 model. The quickest way to tell the difference between the two main trims is the rectangular headlamps on the core Land Cruiser and the circular front lights on the 1958 and First Edition models.