Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series delayed

The Australian launch of the new Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series is in doubt following the world’s biggest car-maker’s decision to cut global production by 40 per cent next month due to the coronavirus.

Toyota announced yesterday it will produce 360,000 fewer vehicles in September – accounting for 40 per cent of its worldwide production – in response to the COVID-related semi-conductor shortage that is impacting the auto industry globally.

The biggest impact will be in Japan, where the closure of 14 factories next month – in addition to factory shutdowns previously announced for August – will reduce Toyota’s domestic production by 140,000 vehicles.

That’s likely to hit Toyota Australia, which sources the vast majority of its passenger cars and SUVs from Japan, with notable exceptions being the Thai-built HiLux and Fortuner, the US-made Kluger and the Austrian-manufactured Supra.

Toyota’s Thai production has also been impacted by COVID-related factory stoppages. Toyota Australia is yet to confirm any local impact on supplies of its top-selling HiLux, Australia's most popular new vehicle for five consecutive years, as a result of them.

Toyota Australia is also yet to confirm the local impact of the production cut in Japan, but today issued the following statement: “Toyota Australia has been advised that vehicle production plants in Japan will be impacted in August and into September, caused by parts shortages resulting from COVID-19 restrictions in Southeast Asia.

“We are working closely with our global production team to work through the impact on Australia and to support our customers.”

Toyota Australia sources the 86, Yaris, Yaris Cross, Corolla, Camry, C-HR, RAV4, Granvia, Prius, Prado, LandCruiser 70 Series and HiAce from Japan, while all Lexus Australia models are also sourced from Japan.

But the biggest impact could be felt by the new LandCruiser 300 Series, production of which was ramping up following its global reveal in June. Worldwide demand was soaring even before then, with 20,000 pre-orders taken in Japan prior to its launch.

The official order book for the new LandCruiser 300 Series opened earlier this month, and this week we drove pre-production prototypes that have been testing Down Under for some time.

Toyota has always said first customer deliveries would take place by the end of early 2022, and we understand it was planning a local launch in October, with deliveries to commence soon after.

Toyota Australia won’t comment on those plans, which could still eventuate given news that the first shipment of 300 Series vehicles has just arrived Down Under.

But with soaring global demand and at least one month of lost production, it remains to be seen how many new LandCruisers will now hit local driveways this year, and how long customer orders will now take to fill.

At the very least, given the LC300 has already attracted well over 12,000 expressions of interest (more than the number of LC200s it sells annually) despite prices exceeding $150,000 drive-away, anyone who orders one today is likely to have to wait well into 2022 for delivery.

For the record, Toyota will cease LandCruiser production at its Motomachi plant from August 24 until the end of September, as well as 300 Series and Lexus LX production at Yoshiwara over September 3-30, plus Corolla production at Takaoka, Prado production at Tahara and C-HR, Yaris and Yaris Cross production at Iwate for a number of days next month.

Production of the RAV4, which already commands a considerable waiting list Down Under, plus the Camry, Prius, Granvia, 70 Series, HiAce, Coaster and all Lexus models will also cease in various Japanese factories for a number of days in September, and Toyota has not ruled out further production stoppages.