5 Things You Should Know About The Newly Revealed Toyota Land Cruiser Prado

The Japanese carmaker has also revealed the new LC 70 which sports retro styling for its rugged nature

Toyota has revealed the new Land Cruiser Prado by the name of the LC 250 as the moniker’s Light Duty Series variant. Apart from the more modern-looking Prado, the carmaker has also revealed a more rugged version of the Land Cruiser with retro styling, called the LC 70. Here is everything you need to know about the new Prado:

A Mixed Design

Compared to the previous generation Prado, the new one gets a mixed design language. While its exterior does have a more modern appeal, there is a hint of an old-school Land Cruiser design. It represents the brand’s intention to bring the LC closer to its roots of being a car that “supports people’s lives and local communities.”

Its overall design can be called “boxy”, with flat profiles and little to no curves. Up front, the LC 250 gets a massive grated grille on top of a high-mounted bumper which houses a skid plate in the middle. The new three-piece LED headlamps with integrated DRLs are the sleekest parts of the new look, which blend into this new design easily. It also gets the choice of retro-styled round LED headlamps.

The side profile carries a plain but rugged look with metal skirts, and cladding on the wheel arches and doors. This look is further complemented by the massive alloy wheels on all-terrain tyres. 

The rear profile is reminiscent of older luxury off-roaders with a simpler design. Just like the front, it gets three-part LED tail lamps with a minimalistic size (no connected bits here), a high-mounted rear bumper with a notably large skid plate and an overall flat-looking design. Even the loading lip seems to have a special anti-skid texture to make it easier to climb onto.

Premium Cabin

As rugged as it is from the outside, the new LC 250 is as premium from the inside. In the pre-production avatar as unveiled, it has an all-black cabin theme with space for seven passengers. The seats, dashboard, doors and even the roof are finished in a black shade.

The design of the cabin has a premium look and premium features. On the dash, it has an integrated display setup (touchscreen infotainment and digital driver’s display) and toggles for the climate controls front and rear. It also gets features like a wireless phone charger, three-zone climate control, powered driver’s seat, and heated and ventilated front seats.

New Underpinnings

The new Land Cruiser Prado is built on the carmaker’s TNGA-F platform, which is the same one used in the Land Cruiser 300. As per Toyota, this platform provides better overall rigidity, improved suspension performance and better on and off-road performance.

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Thanks to the fresh platform, the all-new rugged-looking Prado also packs better off-road capabilities. It also debuts a new Stabilizer Disconnect Mechanism with a switch to enable the front stabilizer state to be changed for ride comfort off-road and handling stability on tarmac.

There’s A Retro Version Too

Toyota has now completed the full range of the Land Cruiser by also debuting the new LC 70 prototype. It is an even more rugged version and looks a lot more like the original all-terrain SUV. 

It will come with retro-styling all around with thinner pillars and massive rear quarter windows, the arches are even more square-ish in shape. The front profile bears the typical chunky bumper with a single-piece grille connecting the round headlamps. It even gets the classic bonnet-mounted rearview mirror. 

At the rear, it has a side-hinged tailgate with the spare wheel mounted on it and the rear windscreen is split into two sections. Dimension-wise, the LC 70 prototype is slightly smaller than the LC 250 and its only a five-seater. 

Even on the inside, the new LC 70 looks old, but in a nostalgic sense. It resembles the styling of the original four-door LC70 with a utilitarian cabin and most of the dashboard looks like dull grey plastic. The only display is a slim MID in the right corner of the instrument cluster that otherwise features analogue dials for everything. There’s no infotainment system but it has slots for an aftermarket system. Even the AC controls are old-school with sliders but it does have some modern support with USB charging ports. It even comes with a separate low-range gearbox to the right of the automatic transmission. The steering wheel seems familiar as it’s the same as the one in the Hilux and the LC 70 also gets cruise control.

Multiple Powertrains

The LC 250 will be offered with these five powertrain options which include petrol, diesel and petrol-hybrid engine options. Their availability will depend on the country of sale for the new-gen Land Cruiser Prado. The LC 70 will be equipped with the 2.8-litre turbo-diesel engine only, the same as the Toyota Fortuner, and will be paired with a 6-speed automatic transmission. Both models will get a four-wheel-drive system.

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Toyota has plans to launch these two models in the first half of 2024, starting with Japan before moving on to other markets like China, North America, Middle East, Europe and Australia. As of now, India is not on Toyota’s map, but since the carmaker brought the LC 300 to India, it can also bring the LC 250 in the coming years with that proven diesel engine. If launched in India, the new Prado will likely be priced north of Rs 1 crore (ex-showroom).