To Save the Land Cruiser, Toyota First Had to Kill It

• Toyota's lineup was predictable and hierarchical once: Sequoia for the family, 4Runner in the middle, and Land Cruiser at the top, where it didn't garner a lot of sales.

• Over at Lexus, there were big grilles and luxury versions of the Toyota SUVs, but those were never intended for off-roading.

• The solution to getting the Land Cruiser out of its niche role, it seems, was to reinvent it, and Toyota has done just that.

In the past, Toyota's U.S. off-road SUV product lineup had a distinct hierarchy. The Land Cruiser sat at the top, with the 4Runner just below and the Sequoia over in the family room. The parallel Lexus universe had more luxurious and expensive versions of the Land Cruiser and 4Runner, but they had less clearance due to low-hanging fascia designs and increasingly humongous grilles. Despite having the same stellar running gear (and even more power in the case of the GX) the Lexus variants have always been more susceptible to body damage and are too superficially delicate to beat up off-road.

Thing is, the Land Cruiser at the top was too expensive for off-roaders to afford. Most lived their lives as pavement-bound mall wagons that never touched earth until they lost their shine, racked up 100,000 miles, and dropped in value before they were bought by enthusiasts. Over time, its reputation was more theoretical than anything else, based in history and the exploits of models that were only available overseas. Starting with the 100-series, the only Land Cruiser we ever got was the expensive three-row behemoth with independent front suspension, a thirsty V-8 engine, and an automatic. As a result, U.S. Land Cruiser sales have been dismal, with annual sales averaging just 3200 units over the past decade.

Meanwhile, the smaller and more affordable 4Runner has been selling briskly, with sales averaging some 130,000 units per year since 2016. The current fifth-generation model is still having a great run even though it debuted in 2009 as a 2010 model.

What happened? Overland-style off-road camping started to get popular right at the time many body-on-frame SUVs morphed into crossovers. Toyota even made the decision to kill off the FJ Cruiser in this period. People started seeking out the few remaining off-road frame-based SUVs and modding them for backcountry camping. With few used Land Cruisers to buy, new 4Runners were a great choice.

TGNA-F Stirs the Pot

The arrival of the highly malleable TGNA-F truck platform and new downsized turbo engines with hybrid variants brought an opportunity for a brand reset. The Tundra changed from leaf spring rear suspension to TGNA's coils, while the Sequoia went the other way from independent rear suspension to TGNA's solid axle. Whether you agree with it or not, the latter became a more off-road-capable three-row large SUV in an instant, making it difficult to make a case for the same sort of Land Cruiser in the U.S. TGNA would also underpin the new global 300-series Land Cruiser, but Toyota decided to use the opportunity to recast our Land Cruiser as a more affordable two-row off roader. Lexus, on the other hand, said yes to the 300-series and introduced it as the 2022 LX600.