The iconic Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series V8 will be axed by the end of next year – and some variants will go out of production this year – as the model switches solely to four-cylinder power, Toyota Australia has today confirmed.

However, the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series heavy-duty off-road four-wheel-drive will soldier-on into its fifth decade after going on sale locally in 1985, powered by the 2.8-litre four-cylinder diesel engine sourced from the Toyota HiLux ute since late 2023.

Despite the public perception of V8 versus four-cylinder power, in the case of the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series the four-cylinder has more torque, is significantly faster – and more economical – than the V8.

READ THE EFTM TOYOTA LANDCRUISER 70 SERIES REVIEW HERE

Toyota Australia has called time on the V8 version of the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series after approximately 171,000 local sales and 18 years of production (since 2007).

This means the V8 has accounted for almost half of all the approximately 347,000 sales of this generation Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series in Australia since it was launched in 1985.

Toyota Australia says it is now scrambling to meet existing customer demand after it stopped taking orders two years ago (in July 2022) .

A top executive for Toyota Australia has urged buyers to not pay more than the recommended retail price for the remaining V8 models, as short vehicle supply and high customer demand are likely to see prices skyrocket.

In a briefing with media today, the head of sales and marketing for Toyota Australia, Sean Hanley, would not disclose exactly how many customer orders were in hand but said it was a “significant number”.

The executive pledged to fill the oldest customer orders first but noted the company was still in negotiations with Toyota Japan to secure as much production as possible.

When asked if some buyers would miss out on the V8 – despite having placed an order up to two years ago – the executive said Toyota Australia was doing everything in its power to meet every customer order, but conceded that may not be possible.

When asked about the possibility of dealers overcharging for a new Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series V8 given their scarcity, Mr Hanley said:

“We will be speaking to our dealers and we will be putting very strong processes in place to ensure that those that have got orders get prioritised.

“Obviously the value of these cars is going to go up incredibly overnight. We are acutely aware of behaviours that could be brought on because of this, and we are going to put in very strong processes to try to negate those behaviours. My advice to anyone waiting, do not pay over retail.

“My advice to consumers who have been waiting, do not pay over retail. What (customers) choose to do with those cars (on the used market) is their business. I can’t control that. But I do not want people thinking they need to run out and pay over retail (at a Toyota dealer). Do not do it.”

Transcript highlights from the media briefing with Toyota Australia:

Toyota Australia sales and marketing boss Sean Hanley:

It’s finally time to bid a fond farewell to an old favourite and that is the 70 Series V8 LandCruiser.

V8 production for Australia will end in September (2024) for all variants except the high-demand 79 Series GXL cab (chassis). 

That’s the V8 wagon, (Troop Carrier) and the entry Workmate and mid-range GX pick-ups. 

Final deliveries of those variants will be in customer hands by the end of the year. 

For the GXL single and double cabs, V8 production is set to continue well into next year, with customer deliveries completed during the fourth quarter of 2025. 

As a logical consequence of these production decisions, we will not be reopening orders for the V8 70 Series LandCruiser.

Instead, out of a respect for those customers who have already placed orders, and many of them as you all well know have been waiting a long long time … our single-minded focus is to get the maximum possible V8 allocation from the factory, and deliver them to customers as quickly as possible. 

It’s not very difficult to work out why we’re bringing down the curtain on the V8. Changing regulations and more importantly, community expectations, made it inevitable. 

It was only a matter of time and that time is now. I can tell you as a dyed-in-the-wool Toyota man, I can understand why some people may regret this landmark decision.

There are many other examples of the market moving in Australia. What we’ve learned is that sometimes you just have to accept that certain things will never go back to how they used to be. The message however, is clear. And it’s been clear for a long time.

If vehicles deliver the capability (and) the practicality required, Australians will move to them, Australians will buy them.

In the case of the (2.8-litre four-cylinder engine) Toyota, both here and in Japan, was determined to return the loyalty shown by our miners, our farmers, remote area workers, off road enthuiasts and many other customers. 

We devoted substantial resources to ensure the long term future of this go-anywhere vehicle renowned for its ruggedness, reliability and simply getting the job done.

A vehicle that would continue to enable them to cover the most inhospitable terrain … and complete the toughest jobs as they’ve done for the past 40 years. 

The other alternative here, of course, was to walk away from this model, but let me assure all of you, that was never an option.

And before you jump to conclusions that this was completely driven by (the new vehicle emissions reduction scheme) regulation … I wish I could tell you we were so agile that we could move so quick from March of this year. 

But the hardcore reality is … we’ve been planning this for a long, long time. 

So regulation, but more importantly, community sentiment has played the biggest role.

So getting rid of this car completely for the Australian consumer and the Australian market, it was never an option.

From October production we will offer a five speed manual gearbox for the (2.8-litre four-cylinder diesel).

It will be available on all body styles and grades other than single-cabs and Workmate wagon. 

When asked by EFTM to clarify how many customers orders for the V8 have not been filled – and if some V8 buyers will miss out – Mr Hanley said:

I won’t go into the exact details of how many people have placed orders because that’s commercially sensitive, except to say it’s a lot. It’s a significant number. 

How many can we fulfil? We’re working through that now. We’re requesting the maximum possible allocation for Australia. We still have considerable time. It’s our goal to fill those orders. That’s what we want to do. 

We want to satisfy as many of those customer (orders) as possible. Our dealers are working with customers to secure their preferred Toyota vehicle. 

Some of them are moving to a four cylinder. Now that we’ve got a four cylinder manual coming, that may be advantageous for some of them.

But if they wish to stick to a V8, that’s fine. We’ll work through and try to fulfill those orders.

We’ll have a better understanding of the number of V8s available for Australian customers when final production is allocated in the next few months.

So we’re working through that, but we were quite confident that we’ll be able to get the majority if not all (orders met). 

Clearly there’s a preference still for V8, so we can’t hide from that. That’s reality. 

(However) demand for four-cylinder has been healthy. We have a three- to six-month wait list right now on (four-cylinder).

But while people have got V8 orders in, we have prioritised trying to get as much V8 production as possible, because we’ve still got an incredibly strong order bank for V8.

There is a healthy take up of four-cylinder particularly in fleets, and they’re loving the auto. 

Of course, the other side of this coin is people want the V8, and culturally you can understand that and we understand that.

So it’s going to take some time for people to move. But what we are finding is once they drive the four-cylinder, they experienced the four-cylinder (and the extra) torque, they move to it. 

So it’s a case of getting people to experience the four-cylinder.

There will always be diehard V8 people. That’s a fact of life. But over time, I think the four-cylinder will be able to completely give (buyers) confidence about the credentials and the capability.

That was never going to happen overnight, right? It was never planned to happen overnight.