DeMuro to Toyota: Killing the Land Cruiser is a ‘Stupid Mistake’

The YouTube star and SUV fan pulls no punches while discussing the end of the Land Cruiser in the States.

Last week, amid the fallout from Toyota announcing that its Land Cruiser is leaving North America, I wrote about how the company should go retro for the next generation, especially given the rapt reception we’ve seen for Ford’s Bronco and Land Rover’s Defender.

Of course, while I’d like to see the current model stay on our shores until there’s a replacement, I recognize the current Cruiser’s dismal fuel economy isn’t exactly wrecking the curve for Toyota’s fleet average.

That said, I’ve enjoyed Doug DeMuro’s videos since he began posting them over a decade ago, so I was curious as to what his take on the news would be. DeMuro is a well-known Land Cruiser fan, and early in the clip below, he says the only reason he doesn’t own a current model is that it doesn’t have full-speed adaptive cruise control. That’s a deal-breaker for him, and while the RAV4 has it, the Land Cruiser, unfortunately, doesn’t. Unsurprisingly, he’s not thrilled with losing the model in North America.

The YouTube star doesn’t spend a ton of time talking about what Toyota should do for the next generation, which is something I’d also like to hear. Instead, after remarking that automakers seldom make a mistake when they kill a model for business reasons, he discusses why it’d be a dumb idea to axe the Land Cruiser stateside.

His reasoning is pretty interesting, in that he says the Land Cruiser, with its reputation for reliability, go-anywhere capability, and understated looks, attracts an upper-class clientele that will happily pay whatever Toyota deems to charge them for it. Because while it offers much of what luxury competitors like Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz do, it does it without all the flash.

So while the beefy rig might not shift more than 3,000-odd units a year, it’ll continue to do that forever, meaning it’s worth keeping just to access to what he refers to as the “stealth wealth” crowd — even though they aren’t even a rounding error in regards to Toyota’s bottom line.

Now, I can certainly appreciate the undercover snob appeal, and there’s the distinct possibility that Land Cruiser buyers purchase loads of other Toyota vehicles for their businesses or family members. But it also seems like he’s saying Toyota should just keep these folks in the family for what’s essentially street cred. While I happen to think that’s a great reason to do it, I don’t actually see how it lines up with the “business case” arguments he makes against a couple of enthusiast cars toward the beginning.  What do you think? Give watch the video and let me know!

Photos: Toyota

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