√Next Toyota Prado could get turbo petrol hybrid power

The next Toyota LandCruiser Prado – due late next year – may receive turbo petrol-electric hybrid power to lead a launch in the US market, according to a new report.

New evidence has pointed to the next-generation Toyota LandCruiser Prado adopting turbo-petrol hybrid power when it arrives in showrooms in 2023 or 2024.

US website The Fast Lane Car reports the Toyota LandCruiser badge will return to US Toyota showrooms for Model Year 2024 (MY24) after it disappeared with the end of the larger Toyota LandCruiser 200 Series in that market last year.

The latest report claims the Toyota LandCruiser name will return to the US – but with what is believed to be the Prado model rather than the full-size Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series.

Furthermore, the report adds, the next-generation Toyota LandCruiser Prado is expected to have the option of a new turbo petrol-electric hybrid system.

The US motoring website claims the hybrid system could combine a 2.4-litre turbo four-cylinder petrol engine and electric motors – as seen in the Lexus RX500h family SUV – with an output of approximately 261kW (350 horsepower) and a 10-speed auto transmission.

The new model is reportedly due in US showrooms as a Model Year 2024 vehicle – suggesting showroom arrivals between mid-2023 and mid-2024.

The US news aligns with media reports out of Japan about 2.4-litre turbo-petrol hybrid power – and a mid to late 2023 launch – for the next-generation Toyota Prado in our region.

The next model is expected to be underpinned by a smaller version of the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series frame, as the Japanese car giant aims to streamline its heavy-duty body-on-frame models which include the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series, Toyota Tundra, Toyota Prado, Toyota HiLux and Toyota Fortuner.

Although these vehicles differ in size and capability from one another, the new-generation platform is reportedly designed to scale each model accordingly.

Meantime, for now it is unclear if the planned Toyota LandCruiser US revival will be a carbon copy of the next-generation Toyota Prado bound for Australia and Japan – or will be reworked for the US market with new sheetmetal among other styling changes.

The Fast Lane Car website reports the next model “may be unique to the United States” – but this is believed to refer to it not being the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series, rather than a model specific to North America.

The current Toyota LandCruiser Prado is not sold in the US; but its luxury V8-powered twin, the Lexus GX, has been on sale in North America for two generations.

It would not be unprecedented for Toyota to market the Prado simply as the ‘LandCruiser’ in the US – the car giant already does so in Europe, where the full-size 200 Series and 300 Series models are not sold.

Citing an insider source, the US motoring website claims Toyota is targeting 30,000 sales of the new US-market LandCruiser annually – more than the 3700 examples of the LandCruiser 200 Series vehicles reported as sold there last year.

However, it is unclear how the US-market Prado would be differentiated from North America’s 4Runner – which is related under the skin to the Prado, a similar size, and saw 144,000 examples sold in the US last year.

Reports out of Japan do not align on what other engine options will be available alongside the 2.4-litre turbo-petrol hybrid system.

Options floated by different Japanese magazines over the past 18 months include 2.5-litre or 2.8-litre turbo-diesel hybrids, a version of the LandCruiser 300 Series’ 3.3-litre turbo-diesel V6, and a 2.7-litre non-turbo petrol four-cylinder.

However, there is ample overseas speculation the new Prado is set to be underpinned by Toyota’s new global chassis for body-on-frame vehicles, TNGA-F – shared with the LandCruiser 300 Series, US-market Tundra, and more – but with dimensions similar to today’s model.

The next-generation 2024 Toyota Prado is due in Japanese showrooms in mid to late 2023, according to overseas reports.

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