2024 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado Speculatively Rendered, May Be Called Land Cruiser 250

Three decades later, the Land Cruiser family welcomed the Prado. The smaller offshoot was last redesigned from the ground up back in 2009 for the 2010 model year under the codename J150, a.k.a. the 150 series.

Twinned with the Lexus GX, the Prado is definitely showing its age. Still quite popular despite its age, the Land Cruiser's lesser sibling will be thoroughly reengineered for 2024 together with the aforementioned GX. Rumored to be renamed Land Cruiser 250 in Japan, the fifth generation has been speculatively rendered by the good folks at Halo oto with the boxy exterior styling that everyone expects from the Prado.

Best described as conservative, the renderings in the video below are closer in design to the J150 rather than the all-new GX. The front end is expected to be a little more chiseled in series-production form, and chances are that Toyota will employ a Range Rover-inspired clamshell hood, just like the one coming to the 2024 model year GX. A light bar connecting the taillights shouldn't be ruled out either, especially now that electric vehicles have brought the light bar to prominence.

Speaking of electric vehicles, don't look forward to anything to a zero-emission powertrain for the Prado and GX. Both of them are underpinned by the TNGA-F (Toyota New Generation Architecture – Frame) of the full-size Land Cruiser, a platform shared with the Tundra and Sequoia.

The Land Cruiser-based LX also uses it, as does the all-new Tacoma. Dubbed N400, the 2024 model year Tacoma comes with either a 2.4-liter turbo four-cylinder lump or a hybrid powertrain that employs the aforestated engine. Although there's a possibility for the Prado to get a six-cylinder mill, namely the 3.4-liter TT V6 of the Tundra, there's no case to be made for a V8 like the 4.7-liter 2UZ-FE of the GX 470. The TNGA-F was designed with fuel economy in mind, and a naturally-aspirated V8 would defeat said purpose.

There's little chance for the all-new Prado to be sold in the United States market, for Toyota is currently putting the finishing touches on the all-new 4Runner. On the upside, there's a high probability of a six-speed manual, similar to the one of the Tacoma. Higher up the spectrum, an eight-speed automatic will be the norm. As a brief refresher, the Tacoma can be configured with a manual as long as you're fine with the SR, the TRD Sport, or TRD Off-Road.

On that note, we're looking forward to the unveiling of the heavily-anticipated 250 series in late 2023. Similar to the outgoing Prado, 4Runner, and GX, the newcomer will be made at Toyota's Tahara plant in the Aichi Prefecture of Japan.