Get ready to say hello to the new Land Cruiser

MANILA: It has been about eleven years since the present model of Toyota Land Cruiser was launched and car enthusiasts had been waiting for long to see the car in some new Avtar. Their wait is over! According to the Best Car magazine of Japan, the 9th generation model of the car will be launched with new features in the middle of 2020 and we may even get an idea of what it will be like by the end of this year. Yes, we are talking about the next-gen Land Cruiser 200, not the smaller Prado version.

The version that will be launched in 2020 will not see minor changes or facelift but will go through major mechanical modifications. As predicted by the same magazine, it will get an entirely new platform while retaining the old body-on-frame construction.

According to the images uploaded recently in someone’s instagram account, the car will be 4950 mm in length, 1980 mm in breadth, 1920 mm in height and have a wheelbase of 2850 mm. So far as the exteriors are concerned, the new Land Cruiser will probably retain the bland side of the SUV along with striking headlights, a large chrome grille being added to it. Needless to say that the interior will be lavishly decorated and include all the high-tech features and amenities for the convenience of the passengers.

One significant retrogressive change will be the shift from V8 to V6. A hybrid engine derived from the crown hybrid may also be found and in that case, it will be the first Land Cruiser to get a hybrid powertrain. Crown hybrid has a 3.5-litre V6 replaced by electric motors. The Audi Q7/Q8, Porsche Cayenne, Volvo XC90 and Range Rover- they all have launched their respective derivatives with hybrid engines and to remain at par with them, Toyota has to consider launching Land Cruiser 2020 with a hybrid engine! It will also help them to abide by the emission norms. In fact, according to some, whether the diesel option will remain in the 9th generation model is a big question. Anticipations also include that there will be a 3.4-litre V6 petrol unit engine generating 422 PS of power, connected to a 10-speed automatic transmission.

None of these changes have been officially confirmed by Toyota yet and are based on mere speculations. We are not sure of any of these specs that are anticipated, however, there’s one thing for sure- it will be the ideal car for off-road drives. We can’t prevent ourselves from expecting a bit more from the car- for example, the Avalon’s wireless Qi mobile charger, the Toyota Safety Sense P (standard safety system suite of Toyota) along with pre-collision, lane departure alert with automatic high beams and steering alerts and even full-speed range dynamic radar cruise control! Also, the latest safety features and connectivity options will hopefully remain there in the 9th-gen model.

All we can do for now is to keep our fingers crossed to see whether the 2019 launch matches our expectations or not.