Toyota's next Kluger to stay petrol-only

Toyota’s redesigned Kluger will eschew diesel and hybrid power to soldier on exclusively with a V6 petrol engine when it goes on sale in Australia within 18 months, motoring.com.au has learned.

The Japanese brand announced in February that production of its current Camry-based seven-seat crossover wagon (pictured) will end in Japan by late 2013, when the next-generation Kluger is due to appear.

Instead, the all-new Kluger will be manufactured exclusively in China and North America, which will supply both Russia and Australia – the only two markets in which the Kluger is currently sold outside the US.

Now, Toyota Australia Corporate Manager Product Planning Greg Gardner has told motoring.com.au that a hybrid version of the new Kluger - a name he said Toyota Australia will be forced to retain – will not be produced in right-hand drive form, and nor will Australia’s derivative be made available with a diesel engine.

To fill the vacuum left by the upwardly mobile Prado and without a particularly fuel-efficient Kluger in its portfolio, Toyota Australia is expected to import the Fortuner SUV, based on the HiLux and built in Thailand. This will give Toyota in Oz an affordable diesel mud-plugging seven-seater such as the Prado once was. But the Fortuner is unlikely to reach Australia before the next generation model is introduced — still a couple of years away.

Few other details of the new Kluger - known as the Highlander in the US – are known, but the move means the Prado will continue as Toyota’s sole diesel-powered mid-size SUV in Australia, where direct rivals in the Ford Territory, Holden Captiva, Nissan Pathfinder, Mitsubishi Pajero and Hyundai Santa Fe all offer diesel power.

The lack of diesel power – as well as 2.7-litre four-cylinder petrol and petrol-electric hybrid versions, which are already offered in North America’s current Highlander – will mean Australia’s next Kluger should continue to be available only with a circa-200kW 3.5-litre petrol V6 driving, in either front- or all-wheel drive configuration.

Ford’s Territory has enjoyed a considerable spike in popularity – with sales up almost 75 per cent so far this year – due largely to the fact a diesel engine is finally available in the only Australian-made SUV, while the predominantly diesel-powered Prado continues to be the nation’s top-selling large SUV priced under $70,000.

Sales of Toyota’s Kluger, the third best seller, remain strong with a 16.2 per cent increase to May this year, despite the fact the second-generation Kluger was released here almost five years ago — in August 2007.

It remains to be seen whether the third-generation Kluger, which Toyota Australia once hoped to produce itself at Altona, can maintain that momentum in the face of fresh SUV competition next year, including Holden’s new Colorado 7 and Nissan’s next Pathfinder, which will also be imported Down Under from a US plant by late next year.

Toyota said it would increase annual Kluger/Highlander production at its Princeton plant by 50,000 – from a current 280,000 to about 330,000 - from the second half of 2013, following a $US400 million ($A373m) investment and the addition of 400 jobs at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana (TMMI) to satisfy export markets including Australia and Russia.

Established in 1996, Princeton also produces the Sequoia full-size SUV and Sienna people-mover.

“The company will invest about $400 million to support global demand for the Highlander, which will no longer be built in Japan by late 2013,” said Toyota Motor Corporation in February.

“Toyota builds Highlander in China for that market only. Highlander is currently sold in Russia and Australia, and TMMI will export to those countries.”

Toyota sold about 1.3 million examples of the Highlander (introduced in 2001) and Highlander Hybrid (introduced in 2005) in North America between 2001 and 2011, including more than 100,000 petrol models and about 5000 hybrids last year.

Australia’s current Kluger and North America’s existing Highlander Hybrid come from Kyushu in Japan, but the MkIII model will not be produced there as part of Toyota’s new policy to build its vehicles where most of them are sold, and its desire to reduce exports from Japan due to a soaring yen that has undermined profitability.

Also in February, Nissan announced it will produce its fourth-generation Pathfinder, which will switch from a rugged ladder chassis to a monocoque platform shared with the Infiniti JX35, at Smyrna in Tennessee for global markets including Australia.

The new Kluger and Pathfinder will join a number of SUVs already imported to Australia from the US, including all Jeeps, BMW’s X5 and X6, and the Mercedes-Benz R-, M- and GL-Class.

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