It’s been a tough fact to come to grips with, but it seems more and more likely with every passing day that the new 300-Series Toyota Land Cruiser won’t be coming over to the United States. After all, when the new model launched in early June, the carmaker’s American websites were silent about it; the only news about the Land Cruiser’s future here was a statement late last year announcing that there would be no 2022 model year version of it in U.S. Toyota dealerships. Disappointing, sure, but not all that surprising; after all, the Land Cruiser sells in diminutive numbers.
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Among the vehicles that outsell the Land Cruiser here, in fact: its more-expensive Lexus LX twin. And while Toyota USA may never bring the J300 Land Cruiser here, the next-gen Lexus version seems far more likely to reach our shores — and if a new rumor is reported to be true, it could be a potent beast indeed.
According to a report from Japan’s Creative Trend that made its way to us via Motor1, the 300-Series Lexus LX lineup will be topped with an LX 750h model that melds the 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 found in the Land Cruiser with an electric motor to create a hybrid variant that pumps out 480 horsepower and a juicy 642 lb-ft of torque. As with the Land Cruiser, all that power would flow to all four wheels all the time through a 10-speed automatic.
Considering that rumors of a hybrid V6 dogged the 300 Series throughout much of its development and that evidence certainly suggests the all-new 2022 Toyota Tundra may be scoring a hybrid engine, odds certainly seem promising that the new J300 Lexus LX will net one, as well. Fingers crossed that we’ll be able to experience that new leather-lined Lexus overlander here in the United States…and that we won’t have to wait too long.