Toyota 2001 SEQUOIA!! (Motor Trend)
Promising to outdo even the current
Landcruiser, this prototype Landcruiser is based on the TUNDRA platform by 2001.
This is a 3 year production life for the current edition, which is much shorter than
we're used to. The previous generation Landcruiser was around for more than 6 years!
Toyota is expected to offer both the 4Runner 3.4L V6 as well as the 4.7L V8. It will
also likely be built in the US in Indiana, and have even better price/performance.
Early on, we can see the Truck looks a bit larger. I like the large doors, reminiscent
of the Lincoln Navigator. I can't wait!! (Hmm... what happens to the Lexus LX 470?
time will tell!)
WAIT!@!!! Stop the
presses!! This report (above) is from the latest issue of Motor Trend, August 1999,
but look what the Popular
Mechanics Spy section
has to report....
The text from the PM spy
report:
"This new larger 4Runner will
go on sale in the fall of 2000. It'll share its ladder frame,
four-wheel-drive system, engines and much of its interior with Toyota's new Tundra
pickup truck.
And it'll be built next to the pickup at the company's all-new factory in Indiana.
But the big news
will be the 4Runner's optional V8 engine. The 245-hp 4.7-liter DOHC V8 makes an impressive
315 ft.-lb. of torque, more power than the larger, more expensive Land Cruiser. To
counter that,
expect Land Cruiser to get variable valve timing and a considerable horsepower increase.
Standard
4Runner power will be the Tundra's 190-hp 3.4-liter V6."
and they used the exact SAME picture!!
NEWest
info: I've been
getting all kinds of email about this story:
"The
car in your 2000 something new Landcruiser/4Runner is not the Landcruiser/4Runner
at all. Toyota has a full size SUV, the Landcruiser right? In the 1980's the Landcruiser
had gotten scaled up to the "Lottery Winner's Only" kind of car category
at about $50,000, right? Now Toyota
customers have no affordable full size SUV any more right? And to worsen this situation,
Toyota's top competitors like Ford and GM have been introducing full size SUVs for
under $30,000.
The solution? Make a full size pickup FIRST, (the Toyota T150 [Tundra]) to compete
with the Big Three, and erase that embarrasing T100 nameplate from the lineup, then
base a whole new SUV on the Full Size T150 (Tundra) concept, so that Toyota can keep
the 4Runner as a Pathfinder/Blazer competitor, and Landcruiser can remain a Navigator/Land
Rover competitor. What comes out of
this? The TOYOTA TUNDRA HIGHLANDER -A whole new SUV in the Toyota line! Like a statue
to fill in Toyota's empty Affordable Full-Size SUV niche, while keeping the Landcruiser
and 4Runner's namplate and competition intact.
You are probably asking, "What are you getting at?" What I'm getting
at is this: Both sections of your report are misleading. The car you pictured in
your Landcruiser/4Runner spied article is really not the Landcruiser or 4Runner at
all!! In fact, it is a whole new car in the Toyota SUV line, ALONG
with the Recreational Activity Vehicle 4Wheel-Drive (RAV-4), 4Runner and Landcruiser.
The name of the new Tundra based SUV will be: the Toyota Tundra Highlander, a WHOLE
NEW NAMELATE in the Toyota lineup.
This is what NUMEROUS magazines call the car you pictured in your report.
That SUV is a whole other, and completely new SUV called: TOYOTA TUNDRA
HIGHLANDER. Toyota's answer to the Ford Expedition and Chevrolet Tahoe.
The Toyota Tundra Highlander is due for October 2001, along with a new 4Runner Series
4, R.A.V.-4 and Tacoma Series 2. Nearly the whole Toyota model line is being romodeled
for 2001.
P.S. I love your modified car page!! I'll e-mail you if I see anymore stuff
about the Tundra Highlander or the N.E.W. Apparently, the Toyota Tundra
Highlander is undergoing testing and assesment stuff in Europe. Toyota is
producing the first Highlanders in Indiana. Enjoy the pics." - from CaNiBuSrc@aol.com
The complete PM Asia Spy report
Based on the Toyota T150 4x4 concept vehicle [now the TUNDRA]:
 The future Lexus RX300? |
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