Before the end of 2020, Toyota announced it will be ending the six-decade run of the Land Cruiser in the United States. Its last outing will be the 2021 model year, after which it will only be sold in global markets. While the decision is not surprising considering the model’s depressing sales numbers in the last ten years, some people appear to be memorializing the vehicle before it exits local dealerships.
In January of this year, Toyota recorded the best sales month for the Land Cruiser in the past decade, while December 2020 was second-best.
Sure, 689 units sold in the previous month do not exactly sound like a huge deal, especially for an automaker rolling thousands of units from dealership lots. However, the milestone marks a 221% increase in Land Cruiser sales from January 2020 that tallied only 215 sales. In December, a total of 606 units of the large SUV were sent to new homes, accounting for an increase in sales of 68%.
A spokesperson for the brand said the company had seen “increased customer interest and traffic to our dealers since our announcement that we’re discontinuing Land Cruiser sales in the US after this model year.”
It’s not clear why customers decided to get their hands on the vehicle, especially with a considerable retails price of $87,030. But it’s highly possible they are after the V-8 engine that will likely not return should Toyota decide not to bring back the model in the future.
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