Toyota Pauses Orders for Ancient Land Cruiser 70 Because It Can’t Meet Demand

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The Toyota Land Cruiser 70 is one model that won’t die. Launched in 1984, it’s been on the market for 38 years now and still enjoys very solid demand in Australia. So much so that automakers need to stop taking orders for classic off-roaders in an effort to produce vehicles that have been paid for.

Car Expert first reported on Toyota’s plans to temporarily halt production of the Land Cruiser 70. A company representative confirmed the information: “Available supply is affected by ongoing production disruptions experienced by the global auto industry. At the same time, the popularity of this model among Australian customers remains at a record high in history.”

The Japanese company announced an update to the Land Cruiser 70 in April this year when it said the series would be modified to meet Australia’s stricter crash regulations. For now, it’s unclear what the pause in production means for the update as it should be available from November this year.

While the number of microchips required for the Land Cruiser 70 is minimal, it turns out that Toyota faces a different problem when it comes to off-roader production. It is currently being assembled in Japan and is one of the company’s most profitable vehicles, although the future of SUVs could be problematic.

“The Toyota team has worked diligently to deliver a record number of vehicles with the tremendous support of our parent company. At the same time, strong demand and industry-wide supply challenges globally prevented us from filling orders sooner. Therefore, we have decided to temporarily suspend new customer orders for the LandCruiser 70 Series. Dealers will be in direct contact with customers about lead times for existing individual orders over the coming months,” commented Sean Hanley, VP of sales for Toyota Australia.

As a reminder, the J70 is powered by a 4.5-liter V8 diesel engine that produces 202 horsepower (151 kilowatts) and 317 pound-feet (430 Newton-meters) of torque. The power is sent to all four wheels via a five-speed manual transmission. This engine is known for its reliability because it is a relatively simple and durable motor, although the fuel economy is not that great.

As a final note, Toyota is selling the Land Cruiser 70 in the Middle East, where the company is still selling the FJ Cruiser. Unfortunately, there is no information on the availability of the model in the region, although we suspect the situation is not much different from Australia.

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