Toyota Motor’s most popular SUV, the Land Cruiser, has just surpassed 10 million sales worldwide, with more than a million in Australia.
The Land Cruiser has been on sale for 68 years and is synonymous for its off-road abilities and a line-up from family vehicle to heavy duty tracks. It’s also Toyota’s longest-selling model and an important part of the brand’s DNA.
Toyota New Zealand’s chief operating officer, Neeraj Lala, told Driven the Land Cruiser series has “not only become iconic in New Zealand but around the world”.
“At the core, Land Cruiser is a hard-as-nails working vehicle, designed to get the job done and to never let you down,” Lala said.
“The Land Cruiser epitomises Toyota’s QDR philosophy — quality, durability and reliability.”
The model is sold in about 170 countries and regions.
By region, the Middle East topped sales in 2018 with about 132,000 units, which accounts for about one-third of total sales of about 379,000 units. Europe and Oceania follow the Middle East with about 54,000 units and about 46,000 units, respectively. In New Zealand,1865 Land Cruisers were sold in 2018..
The history of the Land Cruiser dates back to August 1950, when Toyota was asked by US forces and the US National Police Reserve (predecessor of the Self-Defence Forces) to develop a four-wheel-drive vehicle.
Toyota began development, and in August 1951, it launched the Jeep BJ. However, as “Jeep” was a registered trademark of another US company, it changed the name to Land Cruiser in 1954.
Full-scale exports of the Land Cruiser began with the 20 Series, introduced in November 1955, four years after the launch of the first-generation car.
Since then, Toyota has consistently developed versions that cater to customer needs, without sacrificing the reliability, durability, and driveability on poor roads that served as the basis of development concepts on which the Land Cruiser is based.