Toyota axes Prado three-door

Toyota has announced it will discontinue the Prado three-door when the facelifted SUV line-up goes on sale in November.

No other details have been released, but the upgraded Prado five-door is expected to continue with 4.0-litre V6 petrol and 3.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engines.

Toyota cited “overwhelming customer preference for this (five-door) body style” for the discontinuation of the three-door, which was made available in Australia for the first time in November 2009, when the current Prado range went on sale here.

“While customers who have bought the three-door Prado tell us they love its off-road and towing capabilities, there is an overwhelming preference for the five-door body style,” said Toyota Australia Executive Director Sales and Marketing, Tony Cramb.

“SUV customers, who appreciate the Prado's rugged credentials, have made it clear they also want the added space, flexibility and convenience made possible by having two extra doors.”

No pricing has been revealed for the revamped Prado line-up, which will bring a new-look front-end with plunging LED running laps, expanded driver guidance and technical support features, as well as “a more refined interior, added safety and even sharper handling”.

Full details are expected to be announced by the time the 2014 Prado is launched locally on November 11, but in the meantime Toyota Australia is talking up the four-year-old Prado’s position at the top of the large SUV sales chart.

More than 11,300 Prado wagons have been sold to September this year – 14.2 per cent down year-on-year but 8.8 per cent more than its nearest rival, Ford’s homegrown Territory (10,439).

In the first nine months of 2013, the Prado has snared a 14.2 per cent share of the sub-$70,000 large SUV segment to lead the Territory (13.1 per cent), Holden Captiva 7 (12.7 per cent), Toyota’s own Kluger (11.4 per cent) and the Jeep Grand Cherokee (10.9 per cent).

Prado sales in Australia passed the 200,000 sales mark earlier this year and, combined with the Kluger and FJ Cruiser, sales of large Toyota SUVs have totalled 22,482 units so far this year, or 28.2 per cent of the segment.

Toyota also says it is the best-selling brand across all SUV segments, with the RAV4, Prado, Kluger, FJ Cruiser and LandCruiser 200 series topping 42,400 sales in 2013.

However, sales of all models but the new RAV4 are down this year.

“Toyota has sold more SUVs than any other car-maker in each of the 10 years since the category was formed -- a decade that corresponds with Toyota being the best-selling brand,” said the Japanese brand.

“Toyota is on track to extend those market-leading runs to 11 years in 2013, for both SUVs and total vehicles sold.”

The Prado has accounted for almost 30 per cent or more than 147,000 of the nearly half a million SUVs it has delivered to Australians in the past decade.

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