For all the hate LC250 gets, the numbers don't lie

[LC_DFW]

I think Toyota nailed it with the LC250 in terms of sales and I don't think we will ever see a 90K Land Cruiser in states again besides the LX variant.

Yesterday I took a trip from Dallas to Austin. Straight down I-35, roughly 210 miles and 3.5 hour drive.

In the span of 3.5 hours, I saw a total of 9 LC250/GX both north and south bound.

2 LC250 first edition
3 GX550
2 LC 1958
2 LC LC

 

[Lainford Express]

Alternatively, as a publicly traded company, Toyota publishes quarterly financial results.

All of 2024 plus 2025 through Q2, Toyota has sold 56449 J250 Land Cruisers, which is more than the entire delivery of J200 Land Cruisers 2008-2021 (41871).

Assuming sales remain flat through 2025, I expect the first two model years of J250 in the US will see combined sales of J250 Land Cruiser and J310 LX (2022-present) exceed all J200 sales (LX and LC combined) for the entire model run (2008-2021).

GX sales appear to be holding steady in the changeover from J150 to J250. It appears Toyota is getting everything they'd hoped for with the new model strategy. They've something like 20x'd Land Cruiser sales while doubling LX sales and holding GX sales steady. I'd call it an unmitigated success.

Remaining domino will be 4Runner sales, which probably cannot be fully assessed until sometime next year. 4Runner sales are down 54% from 2024 YTD, but I'm all but certain that is due to supply still ramping up (sales were down 23% last year as they stopped production to clear out the old ones). Perhaps they've hurt themselves there with not having enough model differentiation, but I doubt it. I think they were pretty smart with the positioning of the LC and 4Runner in this new generation. They really are targeting different customers.

 

[cvx5832LC]

Adoption of the J250 will also increase when the actual performance of the platform is more known to the general public. That said those are still blockbuster numbers when you consider all the FUD in the air.