@Climbingnut that was Dave from Toyota. He first came to Breckenridge in 2017, which is when he made the original comment about the LC being the flagship/halo vehicle for the US. He was back in Ouray in 2019 and said more or less the same thing. He was apparently involved in testing the 200 and other Toyota vehicles. So his info seems legit, but having worked for big companies myself I can totally believe that this is what he was told was the plan and what he saw and heard happening around him, but corporate may very well have decided to kill the 300 in the US regardless of what marketing, engineering, etc pushed.
Agreed. Here he is in a loaner stock 200 on HT's behind me in 2017 (did everything just fine on mild to moderate trails). He was a big fan of the TRD or PRO (?) model of the 4-Runner, he may of had a hand in that also if I recall.