Orders are still closed Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series The models are equipped with V8 turbo-diesel engines and it is unclear when they will go on sale.
“The V8, we are fulfilling orders as we speak,” said Sean Hanley, vice president of sales, marketing and franchising at Toyota Australia.
“We hope to be able to fill those orders. However, at this stage, I don’t have a clear vision of that ordering bank opening any time soon. We still have a way to go to clarify what we have.
“On the other hand, four-cylinder engines are definitely opening up… and the utilization rate is improving day by day.”
Mr Hanley reiterated that he did not expect orders for the V8 to open up “in the near future”.
“What we’re focused on is delivering each of those vehicles to the customers who ordered them,” he said.
At one point, dealers said the wait was four years “or never” for the venerable V8.
Mr. Hanley was said earlier in February The V8 70 series “is probably the car you’ll be looking at [removing from Australia] upfront]” when the New Vehicle Performance Standards (NVES) take effect.
According to Mr. Hanley, the prospect of discontinuing the use of V8 engines “always existed before NVES, but now it’s probably ingrained in our thinking.”
If cutbacks occur, Toyota Australia will then “have to see” how many more products it can produce to meet returned orders.
“Then I think those were happy days,” said Mr. Hanley. “The 2.8L LandCruiser 70 auto, Euro 6 compliant, is our future.”
With 150kW of power and 500Nm of torque, the four-cylinder engine has just 1kW less power than the V8 but has 70Nm more torque. It was introduced as part of the update for 2023.
It’s also mated to a six-speed automatic transmission, where the V8 is only offered with a five-speed manual.
Toyota dealers have reached out to customers who have been waiting for a V8 to offer them the more available four-cylinder model.
The company first announced a pause in orders for the V8 70 Series in July 2022. Last year, it confirmed that it expected to take delivery of around 12,000 vehicles in 2024, two-thirds of it could be that the V8 is in demand.
