Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series orders remain on hold indefinitely

Order books for the iconic Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series workhorse four-wheel-drive will remain closed in Australia until the company can clear some of the two-year waiting list.

However, Toyota Australia says the extended pause in orders does not mean the vehicle will remain will off sale for two years, and the company hoped to open the books again some time this year.

"The LandCruiser 70 Series will remain on pause for the foreseeable future, until such time as we can get more production information around our supply situation," Toyota Australia, vice president, sales and marketing, Sean Hanley told Drive.

"However we continue to review the situation every month … and as soon we are in a position where we believe we can fulfil the customer order bank we have, and be in a position to sell more of those vehicles, we’ll open it up."

When asked if the current two-year waiting list – with more than 20,000 orders yet to be filled – meant the vehicle might remain unavailable to order for two years, Mr Hanley said:

"Not necessarily, that would not be the case. Our parent company is undertaking improvements and countermeasures every single day and week at the moment on the production side.

"So while I don’t expect that in the (first half of 2023) things are going to improve dramatically, over the next 12 months I’m optimistic things will improve.

"I’m very confident in our company’s ability to introduce countermeasures and ramp-up production as we go forward."

Toyota Australia stopped taking orders for the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series in the middle of last year after being overwhelmed by customer demand.

Late last year, Toyota changed the Australian classification of the almost 40-year-old vehicle in to a light truck – rather than a passenger vehicle – so it did not need to meet stricter side-impact regulations. However Toyota did add autonomous emergency braking technology.

Despite its age and rudimentary features, the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series is posting some of the highest sales in its 38-year history.