Toyota primps Prado

TOYOTA Australia has released an upgraded version of its Prado wagon, with price increases across the range accompanied by extra features for top-end models.

On sale now with price hikes of up to $3086, the MY12 tech change for Toyota Australia’s latest Prado off-roader, which was released here in November 2009 but is mechanically identical to the model it replaced, entered production in October.

Although there are no exterior design changes, a key new Prado feature is the addition of ‘Radar Cruiser Control’ for flagship three-door ZR diesel and five-door Kakadu diesel and petrol models.

For the privilege, buyers of the 2012 ZR three-door will pay an extra $2086, at $67,990 plus on-road costs, while buyers of both Kakadu five-door models will pay $3086 more than before.

Now costing $90,990 (petrol) and $91,990 (diesel), the top-shelf Kakadu models also now come standard with the Pre-Collision Safety System and a premium 17-speaker JBL audio system with USB, 3.5mm and Bluetooth connectivity.

The high-end JBL sound system is now also standard in mid-range VX variants, which also gain standard satellite-navigation (previously a $2500 option) but are now also $3086 more expensive at $77,490 (petrol) and $78,490 (diesel).



There are no changes to either of the volume-selling Prado five-door models, but both GXL manual models increase by $86, to $60,990 (petrol) and $61,990 (diesel), while the base three-door Prado, the SX, is priced $100 higher at $56,090 without change.

Nor is there any upgrade to the entry-level Prado GX diesel fleet special, which increases to $58,490 in auto form and retains the Prado’s entry price point of $55,990 as a manual, although the seven-seat option price now increases by $86 to $2500.

Metallic paint remains a $520 extra across the Prado range, except for the SX three-door and GX five-door manual, on which it continues to cost $400.

Prado sales are down more than a third in Australia so far this year, with Toyota’s stalwart mid-size SUV slipping to second in the segment behind Ford’s Australian-made Territory, which commands a dominant 16.6 per cent share.

The Prado still accounted for 14.4 per cent of all medium SUVs sold to October this year, to remain narrowly more popular than Toyota’s other entrant in the segment, the Kluger, which is down 18.2 per cent but still holds a 13.5 per cent share.

However, the decline in sales of its once-dominant medium SUVs has not helped Toyota’s fortunes this year, when earthquake-related supply constraints have helped slow sales by 14.5 per cent overall.

Toyota Prado pricing(before on-roads):
3-door
SX (a)	$56,090
ZR (a)	$67,990
5-door
GX 3.0 diesel	$55,990
GX 3.0 diesel (a)	$58,490
GXL 3.0 diesel	$61,990
GXL 3.0 diesel (a)	$64,490
GXL 4.0 petrol	$60,990
GXL 4.0 petrol (a)	$63,490
VX 4.0 petrol (a)	$77,490
VX 3.0 diesel (a)	$78,490
Kakadu 4.0 petrol (a)	$90,990
Kakadu 3.0 diesel (a)	$91,990