Frankfurt show: Toyota to keep updating LandCruiser

THE chief engineer responsible for Toyota’s entire LandCruiser 4x4 line-up admits he is “not that satisfied yet” with the big 200 Series and still sees “space for improvement” for the model after 10 years on the market.

A major facelift launched in 2015 may not be the last 200 Series update and a ground-up next-generation version different enough to qualify as a 300 Series may remain some way off.

Speaking with GoAuto at this week’s Frankfurt motor show, Toyota LandCruiser engineering boss Sadayoshi Koyari was critical of the current 200 Series after heaping praise on the facelifted 150 Series Prado he unveiled at the event.

“To be honest I am not that satisfied yet with the current model,” he said. “I think there is still room and space for improvement.”

Although he did not go into specifics, Koyari-san, speaking through an interpreter, appeared to suggest that a replacement for the 200 Series may carry over enough from the current model to not be considered a full generational change in demanding markets such as Australia.

“It’s difficult to tell because how big a change might impact people would differ from region to region,” he said.

“So I can’t say it will be a big change as you (in Australia) might say it is a minor change, or another region might say this is a big change.”

Koyari-san was also unable to indicate how much life the 200 Series had left in it, saying the model’s only competitor was itself.

But ensuring the LandCruiser line-up remains compliant with ever-tightening global regulations was at the forefront of his mind.

“When we have a look globally, we see that every region is getting stricter with regulations – regardless of whether it is emissions, sometimes it is safety – so we as a manufacturer have to be prepared for those regulations and of course we have to implement measures in order to fit these regulations otherwise the LandCruiser can’t exist,” he said.

“Another challenge is these regulations can be different from region to region so we have to maintain a complete overview of what each region is going to do and we have to coordinate how to fit the best in the whole picture.”

Koyari-san added that migrating the Prado’s autonomous emergency braking technology to the larger 200 Series “technically speaking should be possible”.

The 200 Series has been on sale in Australia since November 2007, having undergone facelifts in 2012 and 2015 and numerous running changes in between.

It has now outlived its 100 Serries predecessor that launched here 1998.