Celebrating the Toyota Land Cruiser

Cumulative global sales of the Toyota Land Cruiser series surpass 10 million units after being on sale for 68 continuous years. 

Toyota’s longest selling model debuted in 1951 as a mobility vehicle for Japan’s national police reserve, it was a simple machine focused on tackling difficult terrain.

Toyota was able to refine its Land Cruiser concept during the Korean conflict and had a model ready for export when the restrictions were lifted that year.

Full-scale exports of the Land Cruiser began with the 20 series, which was introduced in November 1955, four years after the launch of the first-generation car.

In the beginning, fewer than 100 units were exported per year; by 1965, 10 years after full-scale exports commenced, that figure had surpassed 10,000 units per year.

At present, the Land Cruiser is sold in approximately 170 countries and regions worldwide, with annual global sales standing at approximately 400,000 units.

The Land Cruiser contributed significantly to increased trust in the Toyota brand around the world, and created a foothold for the company to expand its exports. Due to its outstanding reliability and durability, there are regions where Land Cruiser 40 Series vehicles continue to be used today, some 50 years after they were manufactured.

In Africa, the Land Cruiser is used to provide humanitarian assistance; in Burundi, to carry malaria-infected children to hospital; and in refugee camps in Uganda, to transport patients to clinics.

In Australia, the Land Cruiser is used for mobility in zinc and copper mines some 1,600 metres underground; it is also used to herd cattle on vast cattle ranches of 8,000 square kilometres.

In Costa Rica in Central America, there are regions where the Land Cruiser is used to harvest carrots at altitudes of 3,500 metres, on slopes so steep that even humans have difficulty standing―the reason being that "only the Land Cruiser is capable of reaching these fields".

Click here to access Toyota's dedicated Land Cruiser website. Here, you can find descriptions of each generation of the Land Cruiser, background on the era in which it was produced, the concept of the model, and the technologies included with each upgrade.