Toyota is bringing the Land Cruiser back to North America

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This morning, Toyota USA uploaded a video to Facebook with the tagline, “Did you think we’d be gone for long? The legend returns.” The “legend” in question is the rugged Land Cruiser, a nameplate that dates back to the 1950s, famous for its reliability and off-road capability. Toyota still makes the Land Cruiser, but it hasn’t been available in Canada since 1996, at least not in a civilian application.

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South of the border, the Land Cruiser went away back in 2021, when Toyota launched a redesigned model with a twin-turbo V6 good for 409 hp. That model was only available in overseas markets, where Land Cruiser sales have always been strong. In North America, the Sequoia or 4Runner sell well enough that Toyota didn’t bother certifying the new Land Cruiser for sales here.

But now it’s coming back, at least to the US. Coming so soon on the heels of the debut of the new Lexus GX, this new Land Cruiser will almost assuredly be a less-fancy version of that vehicle. While Toyota hasn’t confirmed anything yet, the best-guess specifications for the redesigned Land Cruiser are a 3.4L turbocharged V6 with 349 hp; a 10-speed automatic transmission; and of course standard all-wheel-drive. Compared to the Lexus model, the Land Cruiser version will probably come with fewer luxuries.

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In Canada, there have been only two ways to buy a new Land Cruiser since the mid-1990s, both fairly expensive. One: if you own your own mine, you can buy a brand-new 1980s Land Cruiser 70 Series from specialists like Saskatchewan’s ENS Industrial. These are very cool, but not intended for road use, and are instead very durable tools used to drive around in caves like motorized transport for Gimli, son of Glóin.

Second option: you just buy the Lexus version. The previous-model GX came with some niceties that a serious off-roader possibly didn’t need, but it had all the same off-road capability as a Land Cruiser. Lexus showed what a GX was properly capable of with the GXOR concept back in 2019.

So, if you’re south of the border, cheer for the return of the Land Cruiser badge. If you’re up here in the rugged north – where a Land Cruiser’s utility would actually be useful – don’t pop the corks just yet. Odds are, Canadians wanting a Land Cruiser will still need to drive past the Toyota dealership and on over to Lexus.