SUV buyers continue to ditch their old school body-on-frame SUVs for more refined crossovers, but even if the trend continues Toyota has no plans to discontinue its lineup of truck-based SUVS.
SUV buyers continue to ditch their old school body-on-frame SUVs for more refined crossovers, but even if the trend continues Toyota has no plans to discontinue its lineup of truck-based SUVS. Toyota currently offers the FJ Cruiser, 4Runner, Sequoia and Land Cruiser, which Toyota says still have sufficient demand to keep them alive.
Motoharu Araya, executive chief engineer for Toyota’s global truck and SUV lines told Automotive News that the four truck-based SUVs still have a distinct buyer base that warrant keeping them in the lineup. “There are multiple customers for us,” Araya stated. “Some want to drive off-road, some want to tow with their families, and some want to commute. Towing and durability are very difficult with a monocoque vehicle.”
Last year Toyota sold 78,457 units of its four truck-based SUVs in the US, which compares to 121,055 Highlander car-based crossovers sold.
The only model out of the four that could be discontinued is the FJ Cruiser, which was originally intended as a one-generation vehicle.
Source: Toyota via Automotive News
