Toyota Land Cruiser may pivot to unibody with EV SUV, pickup
Toyota Land Cruiser rumored to adopt unibody, add EV SUV and compact pickup
Toyota Land Cruiser may pivot to unibody with EV SUV, pickup
Toyota may shift the Land Cruiser to a unibody platform, adding a Land Cruiser Sport EV SUV by 2028 and a two-row pickup, with hybrid and electric powertrains.
2025-11-02T14:19:32+03:00
2025-11-02T14:19:32+03:00
2025-11-02T14:19:32+03:00
Japan’s Best Car reports that Toyota is preparing sweeping changes for the Land Cruiser lineup. For the first time in more than 70 years, the storied off-roader could move to a unibody platform—an architecture more typical of crossovers than traditional body-on-frame SUVs.According to the outlet, two fresh models are planned on this base: a fully electric SUV and a two-row unibody pickup positioned against the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz. The pickup would translate the Toyota EPU concept, shown at the 2023 Tokyo Motor Show, into a production model.The SUV is expected to carry the name Land Cruiser Sport and arrive around 2028, while the pickup’s timeline has yet to be announced. Both vehicles, Best Car notes, are being developed to support hybrid and fully electric powertrains.If the rumors hold, the shift would mark a watershed for the Land Cruiser—tilting the brief from ultimate off-road prowess toward comfort and technology. Electrification would build on the course set by the hybrid Land Cruiser 300 and Prado 250 already presented in Australia. The strategy reads as a pragmatic pivot toward everyday usability and efficiency, though loyalists will pay close attention to how much of the nameplate’s toughness carries through.
Toyota, Land Cruiser, Land Cruiser Sport, unibody SUV, electric SUV, EV pickup, hybrid powertrain, Toyota EPU, Ford Maverick rival, Hyundai Santa Cruz, 2028 timeline, electrification, platform shift
2025
Michael Powers
news
Toyota Land Cruiser rumored to adopt unibody, add EV SUV and compact pickup
Toyota may shift the Land Cruiser to a unibody platform, adding a Land Cruiser Sport EV SUV by 2028 and a two-row pickup, with hybrid and electric powertrains.
Michael Powers, Editor
Japan’s Best Car reports that Toyota is preparing sweeping changes for the Land Cruiser lineup. For the first time in more than 70 years, the storied off-roader could move to a unibody platform—an architecture more typical of crossovers than traditional body-on-frame SUVs.
According to the outlet, two fresh models are planned on this base: a fully electric SUV and a two-row unibody pickup positioned against the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz. The pickup would translate the Toyota EPU concept, shown at the 2023 Tokyo Motor Show, into a production model.
The SUV is expected to carry the name Land Cruiser Sport and arrive around 2028, while the pickup’s timeline has yet to be announced. Both vehicles, Best Car notes, are being developed to support hybrid and fully electric powertrains.
If the rumors hold, the shift would mark a watershed for the Land Cruiser—tilting the brief from ultimate off-road prowess toward comfort and technology. Electrification would build on the course set by the hybrid Land Cruiser 300 and Prado 250 already presented in Australia. The strategy reads as a pragmatic pivot toward everyday usability and efficiency, though loyalists will pay close attention to how much of the nameplate’s toughness carries through.
