New Toyota LandCruiser video walk-round

The first batch of 2022 Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series vehicles has arrived in Australia but, as we’ve reported, all of them are being reserved for press and dealer demo duties, leaving Toyota Australia unable to confirm when first customer deliveries will take place.

That’s because subsequent shipments of the new LandCruiser are in limbo following the closure of several Toyota factories in Japan due to the ongoing COVID-related global semi-conductor shortage.

And the situation has worsened since Toyota Australia apologised to the thousands of Aussies who have placed orders for the new LC300 – despite drive-away prices now starting at almost $100,000.

This week Toyota announced that the Toyota Auto Body Yoshiwara plant, which produces the new LandCruiser but has been closed since August along with 13 of Toyota’s other Japanese factories, will remain idle until at least October 18.

That makes first Australian deliveries of the 300 Series unlikely to take place by the end of this year, and means new orders will take even longer to fill than the seven-month waiting time currently being quoted by some Toyota dealers.

That won’t stop Toyota Australia from staging a national media launch for its first new LandCruiser in 14 years next month, employing a handful of vehicles from the first shipments we spied in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane earlier this month.

If fact today we spotted those very press vehicles enroute from Melbourne to Sydney in preparation for the media launch in October, as you can see from this smartphone video we posted to our Facebook page today.

And we can assure you the 2022 LandCruiser looks as imposing in the metal as it does in photos, with the new GR Sport variant in particular packing plenty of street cred.

The 2022 Toyota LandCruiser is based on a new TNGA ladder platform and is lighter, better equipped and brings more performance thanks to an all-new 3.3-litre turbo-diesel V6 outputting 227kW and 700Nm.

Paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission and packed with significantly more technology and luxury features than its predecessor, the new model retains a 3500kg towing capacity and is claimed to deliver improved capability off-road and on.

Six model grades will be available – GX, GXL, VX, Sahara, Sahara ZX and GR Sport – and you can check out our full 2022 Toyota LandCruiser pricing and specs story here.