A fresh report out of Australia suggests the replacement for the Toyota Land Cruiser 200 will ditch its V8 engine, echoing a similar rumour coming out of Japan back in February 2019.
According to CarAdvice, the upcoming Land Cruiser (which is expected to wear the “300 Series” moniker when it is revealed in either 2020 or 2021) won’t be offered with a V8 engine. In South Africa, the current model uses a 4,5-litre V8 turbodiesel, while a 4,6-litre V8 in petrol form is also available in some other markets.
The report claims the new model will instead draw its urge from V6 turbodiesel and turbopetrol units, with a hybrid powertrain also on the cards.
While the Japanese brand has yet to officially confirm the death of the V8 (which is also used in detuned form in the Land Cruiser 70 Series range), Bernard Nadal, head of product planning and development for Toyota Australia, hinted that could indeed be the case.
“You would see most brands are shifting down from V8s, whether it be petrol or diesel configurations. It’s generally in the pursuit of greater efficiencies and to reduce CO2 emissions, so that’s the global trend,” Nadal said.
Still, he added the Land Cruiser would remain capable on and off the beaten track, even if a hybrid powertrain was eventually offered.
“I think that will well suit us for customer needs. The current hybrid take-up [of Toyota products] is amazing. It’s going very, very well for us, not just in Australia but also in key European markets and in America. That’s a fair sign of where we’re going,” Nadal said.
