As a representative of the Japanese hardcore off-road vehicles, Land Cruiser has always been the heart of off-road enthusiasts, in 2002 FAW set up the Toyota LC project team, there have been countless imported LC series models to China, and the name of "Land Patrol" has also been printed in the hearts of most off-road people.
Recently, some netizens posted a set of new car road test spy photos on the Land Cruiser Forum, according to netizens, the new car was tested in Sichuan. The combination of "heavy disguise", "domestic road test", and "the latest LC" has aroused many reverie in the circle. After all, the LC200 was produced at the FAW Toyota plant in Sichuan during the domestic production period.
After the domestic suspension of production, the only way to buy land Cruiser in China is through parallel imports, although it can still be licensed and normal and legal on the road, but several core problems of parallel imports still plague most car owners and potential customers. For example, there is no unified, large-scale after-sales service, most of the parallel imports are through the cooperation with insurance companies in the repair shop for after-sales service, into the 4S shop is not to enjoy the warranty; for example, the configuration of parallel imports is very low, basically what the configuration of the car is what the configuration, usually different regional versions (Central East, North America, etc.) will only introduce 1 to 2 configurations, and the price gap is very large.
Of course, there is also the price problem, because parallel import vehicles also need to complete emissions, safety and other aspects of the test according to the regulations, so parallel importers usually use 1-2 cars to complete these tests, so in the case of the same batch of imports is not large, the cost of 1-2 cars is apportioned to the remaining commodity cars will lead to the final transaction price is more expensive, the current landing price has been close to 400,000 Suzuki Jimney is a typical example.
Then, if Land Cruiser can once again through the form of official introduction, so that consumers can enjoy quality assurance, after-sales and other services normally, it is undoubtedly a good thing for this part of the potential customers.
However, the road test is a road test after all, and the authenticity of the picture has yet to be determined. And at present, north and south Toyota have not expressed the intention of re-introduction, even if the final official announcement, but the road test of the vehicle (LC300) in Japan's delivery time has been planned to 2026, in the epidemic, chip shortage and other problems exacerbated, the domestic LC300 in the end can have how many delivery market, also need to put a question mark.
From my personal judgment, the probability of FAW Toyota restarting the Land Cruiser production line is not high, first, Toyota has begun to actively transform the electrification market in China, at this moment from production to research and development of the center of gravity, must be like the new energy model tilt, bZ4X has revealed Toyota's determination to transform; second, the output of land Cruiser is not very high, even if the order volume after the opening of the reservation is far more than expected, but the current domestic epidemic is repeated, production is not stable, Whether to leave the valuable production line to the Land Cruiser instead of those models that are heavy, I am afraid that Toyota will also consider it again and again.
Therefore, in a short period of time, the fans and potential customers of the Land Patrol still have to set their sights on Tianjin Port.