Japan is making a NEW 70 see attached. (1 Viewer)

[OGBeno]

This is why the US Government will never allow this type of vehicle in the Toyota Showroom , because they are trying to protect their own economy against this beautiful Machine , so sad the rest of the world has it , I could buy this brand new back Home but can't bring it here .

It has nothing to do with that at all.

We've been discussing 7x series trucks for over a decade now.

The real reason is simple: Toyota will not make any money whatsoever importing these trucks in. That the long and the short of it. Toyota is in the business of making a s***-ton of money. They will lose money on these trucks in the US. As such, they will absolutely not import anything that they are going to lose money on.

They do not care about a few hundred people on enthusiast forums who will buy this truck. They do not care one iota. They would prefer you to continue buying parts for your old Land Cruisers. They make more money in that than they do introducing and supporting the necessary infrastructure for a new model here in the States.

The 7x in the US is a pipedream from Toyota. Always has been, always will be.

 

[Output Shaft]

It has nothing to do with that at all.
We've been discussing 7x series trucks for over a decade now.
The real reason is simple: Toyota will not make any money whatsoever importing these trucks in. That the long and the short of it. Toyota is in the business of making a ****-ton of money. They will lose money on these trucks in the US. As such, they will absolutely not import anything that they are going to lose money on.
.

Yes, I agree, that appears to be the party line... but.....

How do we make heads or tails of the current LC 70 launch in Japan? According to their press release, Toyota is planning (hoping?) on selling only 200 per month for one year.. and that's it. Done. No more. That means they will be happy with selling just 2400 vehicles.

Toyota could sell 2400 LC 70's in the USA in one month. The LHD model is already available in Dubai, so very little engineering/retrofitting would need to be done.
Oh the mystery of it all!

It's not like Japan needs an LC 70.. The country is paved...just like the USA.

 

[OGBeno]

Yes, I agree, that appears to be the party line... but.....

How do we make heads or tails of the current LC 70 launch in Japan? According to their press release, Toyota is planning (hoping?) on selling only 200 per month for one year.. and that's it. Done. No more. That means they will be happy with selling just 2400 vehicles.

Toyota could sell 2400 LC 70's in the USA in one month. The LHD model is already available in Dubai, so very little engineering/retrofitting would need to be done.
Oh the mystery of it all!

Toyota is doing nothing special to current vehicles they are already building at the Yoshiwara plant in Aichi. They are merely putting special tags on them denoting the 30th anniversary of the 7x series. These are the same vehicles that CDan, Mot and I saw when we visited the plant in 2010.

The difference now is that instead of coming off the line like above and going to the export pen where car carriers take them to port for export, they are going directly to the local Toyota dealer in Japan for sale.

There is no way they can sell them for that price point in the US. Try double $35K for a price-point in the US after they do the following:

1. Import many of them for crash testing (millions of dollars).
2. Import many of them for emissions certification for 50 state sale (millions of dollars).
3. Train sales people as well as technicians and parts guys how to sell them, work on them and provide parts for them (millions of dollars).
4. Provide the logistical infrastructure for them (millions of dollars).

So, what you have a is a $65K+ vehicle that **maybe** 200-300 people nationwide in the US have the money to buy.

That is probably the worst $$ decision Toyota can make in the US and would get laughed out of the US market within a month or two.

 

[Output Shaft]

^^
That is probably the worst $$ decision Toyota can make in the US and would get laughed out of the US market within a month or two.

Yes , I reckon you are spot on... Good insight...as we are already laughing at one of the most ridiculou$ Land Cruiser$$ ever.. That thing they call the LC 200.
But i digress....

 

[John Galt]

Beno is correct. As I noted back on msg#27, If there was money to be made on 70 series in North America then Toyota would already be selling them. Otherwise they wouldn't have stopped selling them in Canada, except to mining companies where they still sell thousands.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Unless you are willing to import a 25+ year old 70 Series, this will be your small / medium truck in the U.S.

 

[Devils Paw 80]

Toyota is doing nothing special to current vehicles they are already building at the Yoshiwara plant in Aichi. They are merely putting special tags on them denoting the 30th anniversary of the 7x series. .

According to "Autoweek, they have not been building 70 series in Japan recently.
Toyota has just announced that production of the 70-series Land Cruiser will return to Japan for one year only, as the company has discovered that there is still a market for these in its home country.
..But this won't be a re-release as something has to be out of production first in order to get re-released, and the Land Cruiser 70 never left production. It simply shifted to local production in Australia and a couple other markets, though assembly stopped in mainland Japan in 2004.

- See more at: http://autoweek.com/article/car-new...ruiser-70-assembly-japan#sthash.63rjBeRy.dpuf

 

[Devils Paw 80]

Unless you are willing to import a 25+ year old 70 Series, this will be your small / medium truck in the U.S...

If willing to import a 25 yr old vehicle from abroad, why not buy an older Hilux at home to get a real small truck?

 

[OGBeno]

According to "Autoweek, they have not been building 70 series in Japan recently.
Toyota has just announced that production of the 70-series Land Cruiser will return to Japan for one year only, as the company has discovered that there is still a market for these in its home country.
..But this won't be a re-release as something has to be out of production first in order to get re-released, and the Land Cruiser 70 never left production. It simply shifted to local production in Australia and a couple other markets, though assembly stopped in mainland Japan in 2004.

- See more at: http://autoweek.com/article/car-new...ruiser-70-assembly-japan#sthash.63rjBeRy.dpuf

Not correct.

 

[cruiserdan]

I guess the plant we visited in Japan does not really exist.........THAT explains why we have no 7x Series vehicles in this market!

 

[Devils Paw 80]

If not correct, why hasn't the 70 series been available for purchase in Japan, and where do the Japanese manufactured trucks go? Doesn't Australia have their own plant?

 

[Output Shaft]

Toyota to kill off 70 Series
http://www.motoring.com.au/news/201...andcruiser/toyota-to-kill-off-70-series-31309

the plot thickens...

 

[OGBeno]

If not correct, why hasn't the 70 series been available for purchase in Japan, and where do the Japanese manufactured trucks go? Doesn't Australia have their own plant?

Japanese manufactured 7x vehicles are exported.

Australia manufactures Camry's and Camry engines (this plant is also closing next year).

Toyota Australia installs beds on some trucks and accessories at port. Nothing else.

Research helps:

http://www.toyota-global.com/company/profile/facilities/japanese_production_site.html

http://www.toyota-global.com/company/profile/facilities/worldwide_operations.html

http://www.toyota-body.co.jp/english/products/suv.html

 

[OGBeno]

Toyota to kill off 70 Series
http://www.motoring.com.au/news/201...andcruiser/toyota-to-kill-off-70-series-31309

the plot thickens...

Old news with no corroboration as yet from Nagoya.

 

[Chester]

I guess the plant we visited in Japan does not really exist.........THAT explains why we have no 7x Series vehicles in this market!

Way COOL Dude!! Maybe you can visit the place with all the discontinued parts next, being as we're dreaming, lets have LSD and full floater's

 

[Devils Paw 80]

Well, more than one source has apparently confused the halt of local sales in 2004 with the halt of local sales and production. The media releases also mention that this one year production will see safety upgrades to satisfy newer requirements in Japan, including airbags. If Japan's safety requirements aligned with those in the US, there's no reason this model couldn't be sold here, since that V-6 engine clearly meets US emissions standards. However, I'm sure there are some pesky details that would prevent this.

 

[Previa Diesel]

Nice, and I like how the body line over the front doors and fenders is reminiscent of the 60 Series. However, what they really needed to build was an Xtracab 70 series pickup, or better yet, an Access Cab (small rear doors)

Unless the regs are changing too much worldwide there will still be a big market for the 70 Series for industrial use: mines etc. Hard to believe they are going to give up that market unless they have a replacement in the works.

They'll sell like hot cakes in Japan, and the kill-off "announcement" won't hurt sales in other parts of the world either!

 

[Devils Paw 80]

Research helps

Good links. So, Australia certainly isn't making them. Interesting that Land Cruisers (no model # specified) are now being manufactured in Bangladesh, Russia and Kenya. But, I didn't find any info there that shows where the 70 series itself is manufactured worldwide, or where they end up.
Maybe it's just Japan exporting to everywhere they're sold.

 

[OGBeno]

Good links. So, Australia certainly isn't making them. Interesting that Land Cruisers (no model # specified) are now being manufactured in Bangladesh, Russia and Kenya. But, I didn't find any info there that shows where the 70 series itself is manufactured worldwide, or where they end up.
Maybe it's just Japan exporting to everywhere they're sold.

In Kenya, they do what are called "Knock Down Kits": basically all of the parts to build a truck are sent to that facility and they just put it all together.

Russia is building the Prado in Vladivostok for the Russian market only.

China is building the LC200 and the Prado for the Chinese market only.

Bangladesh is building Prado iterations for the greater SE Asian markets (Indonesia, India, etc.)

The big "secret" is not a secret: Yoshiwara Plant has historically build the 7x vehicles along with Gifu Auto Body (now owned by Toyota Auto Body, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation).

As the saying goes, Yoshiwara is for Land Cruiser folks the "most important building in the world."

 

[cruiserdan]

Boy is it cool.....