At the beginning of autumn 2017, at the annual Frankfurt car show, the new SUV of the Land Cruiser Prado range (photo below) presented the largest Japanese concern, Toyota.
Photo: 2018 new Toyota Land Cruiser Prado
In total, during its existence, Toyota has released four generations of the Land Cruiser:
- Off-road vehicles of the first generation, produced from 1987 to 1996, were originally designed for driving in particularly difficult conditions. Three-and five-door cars in different markets were called Land Cruiser II, 70 Prado or Bundera. The main goal of Toyota marketers was to promote the Land Cruiser Prado in the face of fierce competition with another Japanese giant, Mitsubishi. At that time, Toyota won the race: the pace of sales of the new SUV in the Japanese and international markets exceeded those of Mitsubishi by almost 1.5 times: buyers liked the confident appearance of the car, ease of management and reliability of the SUV.
- The second generation Toyota Land Cruiser Prado of the 90th series was made on the basis of Hilux Surf from Toyota. As before, the main rival of the SUV was the Mitsubishi Pajero. Production of cars ceased in 2002 in connection with the preparation of a new generation Land Cruiser Prado.
- Land Cruiser Prado third generation, produced from 2002 to 2009, belonged to the 120th series. Base SUV remained the same. For the first time, an automatic transmission was introduced (at that time, a five-speed). Buyers were given the opportunity to choose between full and front (with the option to connect full) drive.
- The fourth generation Toyota Land Cruiser Prado (150th series) is produced from 2009 to this day; The Land Cruiser Prado 2018 belongs to it. The new SUVs turned out to be even more massive, their cabin is more spacious, and the frame is stronger. The first restyled car was held in 2013; The changes affected mainly the exterior: the body lines became smoother and more fluid, the front and rear headlights significantly increased in size, and the side windows now represent a single lane, in harmony with the overall impression of swiftness of the Land Cruiser Prado.
The second restyling was carried out by the manufacturer recently; the result of it was the new Land Cruiser Prado (photo below).
Currently, the Land Cruiser Prado sales market covers 190 countries, including the Russian Federation and the CIS countries. Traditionally high demand in the countries of North America and the European Union, as well as in the homeland of an SUV - in Japan. In Russia and a half years, from the beginning of 2016 to mid-2017, more than 20,000 cars were sold - and, of course, domestic buyers will not disregard the new version of the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado 2018, even faster, safer and more reliable.
Toyota Land Cruiser Prado - video
