Toyota unveils the boxy and retro 250-series Land Cruiser 

After more than a decade, Toyota has finally unveiled the all-new 250-series generation of its Land Cruiser, to be known as the Land Cruiser Prado, and simply Land Cruiser in North America. It takes on a whole new approach with its retro-modern appearance, inspired by previous generations of the Land Cruiser nameplate.

Codenamed the J250, the all-new 250-series Land Cruiser is built on the same architecture as the 3rd generation Lexus GX550 which was revealed not too long ago. Like its luxury counterpart, it rides on the TNGA-F platform which also underpins the Toyota Land Cruiser 300-series and Lexus LX.

For its exterior, the 250-series Land Cruiser, as mentioned, goes for a retro-modern design concept. It’s a lot more rugged and squared-off. The front grille features a square pattern with the Toyota name spelled-out truly giving an old Toyota vibe. Meanwhile, two distinct headlight options are available. The first comes with the “1958” trim and features round lights and DRLs in a square housing. The other option is slimmer and more modern set of bi-beam LED lights.

Common to both is the more boxy body shape that we first saw on its Lexus counterpart. As expected, they do share plenty of the same panels and pieces from the doors and windows, roof, windshield, and more. Unlike the Lexus GX550 though, the Land Cruiser 250 still gets vertical taillights but with a lower placement just like the first two generations of the model. 

Inside, the all-new 250-series Land Cruiser has finally been brought to the 2020’s with a much more modern design while still maintaining its retro-inspired theme. It features a two-tiered layout with large screens, and improved materials making it more premium still.

Round side air vents, the mentioned two-tiered layout, and the deep placement of its digital instrument cluster into the dashboard emphasize the vehicle’s inspiration to Land Cruisers of the past. 

Under the hood of the Toyota Land Cruiser 250 are various four cylinder powertrain options with choices of a gas-hybrid, mild-hybrid, mild-hybrid turbodiesel, pure turbodiesel, and pure gasoline.

The star here is a new 2.4-liter T24A-FTS turbocharged Inline 4-cylinder gasoline engine paired to an electric motor that produces 330 horsepower and 630 Nm of torque, mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission. This is the first time the Land Cruiser nameplate gets a hybrid powertrain, however, it will only be made available in North America and China.

For global markets, the same powertrain is available but without an electric motor, that’s a 2.4-liter turbocharged gasoline engine that produces 281 horsepower and 430 Nm of torque, also paired to an 8-speed automatic transmission.

A mild-hybrid option is also available, pairing the tried-and-tested 2.8-liter 1GD-FTV Inline 4-cylinder turbodiesel with a 48V battery. It does however produce the same 204 horsepower and 500 Nm of torque, but now also gets an 8-speed automatic transmission.

Other options are a 2.7-liter 2TR-FE gasoline engine with 163 hp and 246 Nm, paired to a 6-speed automatic transmission; and a non mild-hybrid version of the 2.8-liter 1GD-FTV, still producing 204 hp and 500 Nm.

Other new features include electric power steering (EPS) which also now allows the vehicle to be equipped with Lane Tracing Assist, a part of Toyota Safety Sense which is also improved though Toyota didn’t dive deep into the details.

Now we don’t know exactly when this all-new 250-series Toyota Land Cruiser will arrive in the Philippines. Given the fact that the light duty off-roader has always been part of the Japanese automaker’s local lineup and has maintained a bit of a following, us included, it surely will come. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait too long.

Anyway, the all-new Toyota Land Cruiser “250” is set to be released first in Japan in 2024.