Toyota Land Cruiser 300 unveiling pushed back again to later 2021

Toyota’s planned reveal of the all-new Land Cruiser 300 has reportedly hit another snag, unsurprisingly related to the impact of the Coronavirus.

According to Japan’s carsensor.net, the newcomer will now only debut in the spring months of next year (March-May) and allegedly not this year due to a lack of testing outside of Japan as a result of the travel restrictions brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

As is already known, the 300 will still ride on a body-on-frame platform, albeit a development of the TNGA architecture known as TNGA-F that will provide the base for the next generation Tundra in North America.

With it also being announced that a V8 engine won’t feature for the first time since the 80 series left production in 1997, the 300 will be an all V6 affair with the range topping petrol poised to get the same 3.5-litre badged 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 as the Lexus LS 500, while a first time hybrid will join at a later stage powered by the same normally aspirated bent-six as the LS 500h with electrical assistance.

As indicated last week, the biggest highlight is the all-new diesel that will reportedly displace 3.3-litres V6 and produce 200kW/650Nm, an uptake of five kilowatts over the twin-turbocharged 4.5 D-4D V8 with torque remaining unchanged. Supposedly also earmarked for the GR Hilux, the V6 will be limited to the 300 as single turbo V8 will continue in the 76 and 79 models for the time being.

What remains to be seen though is whether the new engine would be optimised for hybridisation given Toyota’s decision to employ electrical assistance on all of its models by 2025. If proven to be accurate, it would result in the 300 conforming to reports first mentioned last year of it becoming a diesel/electric. Despite being rumoured for introduction earlier this year, the upgraded 2.8 GD-6 oil-burner from the Hilux, Fortuner and Land Cruiser Prado appears unlikely due to the 300’s additional mass that could impact reliability.

In spite of its unveiling being some way off still, expect more speculative reports and possibly even leaked images or details to emerge over the coming weeks and months.

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