If the Toyota LandCruiser Hybrid is so good, why isn’t it replacing the diesel?

Despite saying that diesel won’t survive beyond the mid-2030s, Toyota has conceded a strong “culture of diesel” will sustain the LandCruiser for the time being.

With expected outputs of 340kW/790Nm, Toyota’s new twin-turbo 3.5-litre petrol-electric hybrid LandCruiser 300 Series – due in Australia in March next year – crushes the 227kW/700Nm peaks of the existing 3.3-litre turbo-diesel V6.

Couple that with a fuel economy that’s expected to come close to the diesel’s 8.9L/100km claim and with no anticipated impact to the 3500kg towing capacity, the natural question to ask is: why wouldn’t Toyota just replace the diesel with the hybrid entirely?

The diesel ‘Cruiser isn’t going anywhere – at least not for the foreseeable, as it’ll be sold alongside the hybrid next year – but there’s precedent for Toyota binning internal combustion-only models in favour of an all-hybrid portfolio.

It’s precisely what the Australian arm did with its passenger cars and unibody SUVs; eliminating pure-combustion powertrains across the range with the exception of the high-performance GR line-up. So again, why doesn’t Toyota do the same thing with its biggest off-roader?

“I think there’s a culture of diesel in Australia,” Toyota Australia sales and marketing boss Sean Hanley said.

“I said many years ago that, eventually – not in the foreseeable future, but for the longer-term – I can’t imagine diesel necessarily being a fuel source of the future.”

So for now, the diesel is going to stay, because the hybrid 300 Series isn’t being pitched as an alternative to the diesel; it’s being offered up as a hot rod – the second vehicle behind the Tundra to land locally wearing Toyota’s ‘performance hybrid’ nomenclature (as opposed to the “efficiency hybrid” label that applies to every other petrol-electric Toyota).

It also won’t be cheap; Hanley confirmed the hybrid will bear a premium over its diesel equivalents, and with it initially only launching in top-tier Sahara ZX and GR Sport grades, that means putting a petrol-electric LandCruiser on your driveway is likely going to cost you at least $150,000 before on-roads.

The hybrid powertrain may eventually proliferate further down the LandCruiser family tree, but it’s likely to be the most expensive option in the range for a good while.

But besides simply being more affordable, the 3.3-litre turbo-diesel still has a part to play.

For one, as Hanley says, there’s a certain respect for diesel among LandCruiser diehards.

More pragmatically, the diesel will still have a monopoly on the three-row seating configuration within the LandCruiser lineup, as the hybrids will only be offered as five-seaters in Australia. For many buyers, that will be reason enough to ignore them.

At some point, the diesel will need to make way for something else.

Though diesels emit, on average, less carbon dioxide than petrols, they’re falling out of favour for their other emissions, most notably nitrogen dioxide, nitrous oxide and fine particulates.

Making diesels perform well and achieve environmental compliance is difficult and requires costly companion technologies like particulate filters and urea exhaust aftertreatment to be applied.

Not only do they add to the cost of production – and by extension, the car’s RRP – but they add complexity too.

There’s currently no legislative pressure for Toyota to abandon diesel powertrains, but having a petrol-powered alternative ready to go is a savvy policy, both from a compliance and cost point of view.

Over the next 10 years we may see an expansion of hybrid offerings through the LandCruiser family as diesel demand softens, and it’s possible that an ‘efficiency hybrid’ will join the fray as a like-for-like replacement for the diesel. Precisely when (or if) that happens remains to be seen.

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