Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series ‘Rugged X’ on the cards

The new Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series looks set to take the big eight-seat off-road SUV concept to the next level.

Due on sale in Australia in 2021, the new Toyota LandCruiser will not only get downsized V6 diesel and petrol engines – the latter forming the basis of the first hybrid version – but potentially also a hard-core off-road derivative developed in Australia to battle the upcoming Nissan Patrol ‘Warrior’.

As the appetite for high-end dual-cab 4x4 utes and SUVs from cashed-up enthusiasts continue to grow, Toyota Australia confirmed it would study the idea of a more rugged version of the new LandCruiser 300 Series.

"You have got to move with the market, so if suddenly there was a big market for it, certainly Toyota would analyse it and study it and if we felt that was something we should do we would look at it," Toyota Australia sales and marketing chief Sean Hanley told carsales.

"Toyota [Australia] has a conversion centre, we have capability going forward and the capability to expand that if we need to as well.

"Certainly it’s something we will continue to study in the future and you'd never rule anything out in that area, given the popularity of that market segment."

While Hanley stopped short of confirming a 'Rugged X' version of the new 300 Series, which he previously confirmed would be released in Australia next year, he pointed out that locally-developed hero variants off the HiLux have proved very successful.

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"When you look at our HiLux variants, you look at the Rugged X and Rogue, we're seeing good take-up rates there," observed Hanley.

"So you know we’ve got our Toyota conversion centre, so certainly we have a level of capability that we can look to expand going forward," he said, referring to the Melbourne-based facility that modifies the HiLux to create the flagship Rogue and Rugged X spin-offs.

"These are all things that are real considerations in the market. We're seeing this movement particularly in that ute market. HiLux as you know is the number one selling car [in Australia] and Rugged X, SR5, particularly the top-end of those cars are doing very well."

If a hero version of the new LandCruiser got the green light, it could get a suspension lift kit for improved ground clearance, extra under-body protection, a tougher front-end design potentially with a bull bar, off-road wheels and tyres plus interior tweaks – all designed to improve its appearance and capability, and backed by Toyota’s five-year factory warranty.

But unlike the upcoming Nissan Patrol Warrior, which is expected to be developed and produced by Premcar in Melbourne, where the Nissan Navara Warrior takes shape, Toyota is looking at producing the LandCruiser ‘Rugged X’ entirely in-house.

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Even without the Warrior version, which has been delayed by COVID-19, and a diesel engine of any kind, sales of the V8-powered Nissan Patrol are up more than 16 per cent so far this year, while LandCruiser wagon sales (including 70 Series) are down 10 per cent.

There are no concrete plans in place yet, since the new LandCruiser hasn’t been launched yet, but it’s clear Toyota is planning to protect its market leadership with the help of more locally-developed high-end off-road models.