Toyota adds value with Prado VX sat-nav option
BY HAITHAM RAZAGUI | 23rd Jul 2010
The seven-inch navigation screen doubles as a monitor for the reversing camera and the option pack also includes a five-speaker upgrade to the Prado’s sound system, taking the total number of speakers to 14, as fitted to the range-topping Kakadu model.
Pricing for the Prado VX starts at $74,404 (plus statutory and dealer delivery charges) for the 4.0-litre petrol variant, while the 3.0 diesel adds another $1000. The Kakadu is much further up the line, starting at $87,904.
In announcing the upgrade, Toyota has highlighted Prado’s improved sales performance this year, with the new-generation 150-series model up 44.1 per cent year to date after finding 9132 homes compared to 6336 at the same time in 2009.
Toyota Australia's senior executive director of sales and marketing David Buttner said that many customers have opted for diesel Prados and attributed the model’s success to the updated range launched late last year.
“Prado is a great package that has strong market acceptance and extremely high customer loyalty,” Mr Buttner said.
“It is luxuriously comfortable and capable around town and, above all, it lives up to the LandCruiser heritage by delivering supreme off-road performance.”According to VFACTS, Toyota’s overall sales are up 14 per cent on this time last year with 107,470 sales so far (26,980 of which are SUVs, up 30.8 per cent) despite recent recall dramas, which have damaged the Japanese firm’s reputation for quality and rock-solid reliability.
Australian-delivered Prados have so far escaped the recall fiasco, but several thousand left-hand drive models have been recalled in Europe and the US.
