haystax said:
Jeeps sells every TJ they make because they have the market cornered - no room for another Jeep. A Toyota would be 10K more money, and everyone would call it a Jeep.
Jeep was also the first one on the market with a small 4x4. That's why everyone's 40 is a "Jeep" to the guy at the gas station. As Haystax has pointed out (time and time again, I might add) it's all about the market. Toyota will never, ever beat Jeep at the Jeep game, like it or not.
In marketing, it's the guy who makes his product the generic name for something that's the leader. (Think Coke, Klenex, Xerox, etc...) and when marketers play the "our product is better" game, it never sticks. Look at what Harley Davidson does, for instance; how many Japanese made big cruier type bikes are out there for a lower price, possibly better build quality, etc? Tons. Do they hold the market sway that HD does? not even close.
What can Toyota do to revive the Land Cruiser line? Reinvent it. I think this is what they are trying to do. I love the 70 series as much as anyone else here, but what market does it fit into? It looks like a friggin' farm impliment more than a Land Cruiser - which brings us back to what a Land Cruiser is here in the US - a giant Luxo Barge that comes in at $50k.

- a Land Cruiser to us here at mud, you have to realize, is something wholly different than what a Land Cruiser is to the rest of the population in the US.
Is this things something brand new? Not really. It's a little late on the reto-styling gig, but it's something that's better looking and more interesting than a Rav4, it's not as bland as the Highlander, and it's not a street-creep like the Scion. It's direct competion, I bet, is the Subaru Outback, Forrester the Xterra. If they market it right, Jeep won't even be in the picture (Jeep has taken it's self out of that market anyway now that they've gotten rid of the boxy Cherokees and put out the Liberty)
Also, there is no way Toyota was even looking at the average 40, 55, 60/62 driver as a market for sales. However, I have noticed that the younger people here on the board are far more open to the new design than some of the older members. What does that say?