Order books for the diesel V8 Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series are looking increasingly unlikely to re-open, amid reports time will be called on the workhorse as soon as this August.
Toyota has more bad news for Australians looking to buy a V8 Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series four-wheel-drive that are not already in the queue.
Reports last year claimed the V8 would begin to be axed from the LandCruiser 70 Series range as soon as August 2024 – and looming Federal Government emissions standards for new vehicles place the thirsty engine under even more threat.
Order books for the 4.5-litre diesel V8 closed nearly two years ago, yet earlier this year Toyota Australia said it still had 12 months’ worth of back-orders left to clear.
Toyota Australia sales and marketing boss Sean Hanley told media today that orders for the V8 70 Series are unlikely to open for “the foreseeable future”.
MORE: Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series V8 future increasingly bleak in Australia
“We’re filling the orders [for the V8] as we speak, so that’s good for the customers that have been waiting. And we expect to be able to fill those orders [in the queue],” he said.
“At this stage though, I have no clear vision of that order bank opening again anytime soon. We’ve still got a way to go to clear what we’ve got, so I don’t foresee that order bank for V8 LandCruiser 70 opening anytime soon.”
Orders for the 2.8-litre diesel four-cylinder automatic 70 Series are open, and Toyota is working to convert V8 deposit holders over to ensure it can deliver vehicles for every order for the V8 that remains.
“The take-up rates are improving by the day,” said Mr Hanley of the four-cylinder.
Asked just how unlikely it is V8 orders will not re-open, the Toyota Australia executive said: “I don’t have an answer on re-opening that order bank. [But] I don’t see it in the foreseeable future.
“What we are focused on though is delivering every one of those cars to the customers who put orders in to the time we closed it off, which … was nearly two years ago. That gives you an idea how big that order bank was.
“But we have nothing to announce on V8 today that we haven’t said previously … To answer your question, I don’t see a date anytime soon about that order bank opening for V8.”
MORE: Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series V8 to be axed by August 2025, report claims
Based on stated ADR figures, the 4.5-litre single-turbo diesel V8 in the LandCruiser 70 Series emits three times as much CO2 as a Toyota Corolla hybrid hatch – and 35 per cent more than a HiLux SR5 diesel ute – so it is naturally in the firing line under upcoming government emissions rules.
Toyota Australia is yet to announce an end date for the diesel V8 70 Series.
However reports out of South Africa late last year claimed the V8 – exclusively matched with a five-speed manual transmission – will be dropped from the 76 Series wagon in August 2024, followed by other body styles in August 2025.
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