Toyota LandCruiser, RAV4 wait times cut

Toyota has addressed growing concern among customers over lengthy delivery times – up to almost a year in some cases – for key models, announcing that its Japanese factories will kick into overdrive in November.

This means more customers who placed early orders for the new Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series, among other models, could get their new rides by Christmas or early January 2022.

In-demand Toyota RAV4 Hybrid models are also expected to get a kick-along thanks to the increased vehicle output, but Toyota has not provided any specific updates to delivery times.

Toyota closed 14 of its Japanese factories in September, cutting global production by 40 per cent.

It again idled many of its plants in October as a result of supply issues caused by semi-conductor shortages and the spread of COVID-19.

With wait times extending up to 10 months for vehicles like the RAV4 Hybrid and LandCruiser 70 Series – and potentially beyond a year for the LC300 – Toyota is scrambling to improve its vehicle manufacturing numbers for November.

The Japanese auto giant says it will build record number of vehicles in November, up to 900,000 in total. This would beat its previous November record of 830,000 units in 2020, but still leaves an overall vehicle shortfall.

After issuing a personal apology earlier this month for the long waiting times, Toyota Australia’s head of sales, marketing and franchise operations, Sean Hanley, said the news from Japan was welcome.

“We are optimistic that the all-new LandCruiser will start arriving at local dealerships in Australia in December, with retail launch timing to be confirmed,” he said.

“Together with our parent company, we are doing everything we can to get customers into their new Toyota vehicles as soon as possible, whether it's the all-new LandCruiser or any other model that is in high demand.”

The brand expects to recoup its lost production numbers by early 2022 as “global production forecast for the fiscal year to 31 March 2022 remains unchanged at around nine million units”, according to a press statement.

Toyota stated it will look into other methods to improve production numbers and reduce the wait time for customers, including implementing “thorough anti-COVID-19 measures both at our own plants and at our suppliers, and since we expect the shortage of semi-conductors to continue in the long-term, we will consider the use of substitutes where possible”.

The global semi-conductor shortage has affected almost every mainstream car maker this year, and while some brands are expecting manufacturing to return to normal in 2022, others are forecasting delays until 2023.