LandCruiser leaves Patrol in its dust

Toyota launched the Performance Hybrid version of its LandCruiser 300 Series in Australia earlier this year and it's claimed to only be making up a small portion of overall sales.

So far diesel versions of the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series are claimed to be outselling the petrol-electric Performance Hybrid trims almost seven-to-one.

Toyota says the amount of LandCruiser 300 Series Performance Hybrid sales is what it expected.

"Yeah, it's going well," said Toyota Australia Vice President national sales, marketing and franchise operations John Pappas to CarsGuide.

"The Performance Hybrid is sitting where we thought it would be, which is roughly at around 15 per cent of our sales of the overall LandCruiser [300 Series line-up]."

Toyota sold a total of 9787 LandCruiser wagons through the first nine months of this year, which is up 10.1 per cent year-on-year.

A small portion of these sales include the LandCruiser 70 Series wagon and troop carrier. Toyota doesn't split out sales and instead only reports it as LandCruiser wagon and LandCruiser pick-up/cab-chassis.

Part of the LandCruiser wagon's recent sales success is due to the runout of the Y62-generation Nissan Patrol. The new Y63 Patrol is due to launch in early 2027.

This improvement in LandCruiser wagon sales defies Toyota's overall sales so far in 2026. It sold a total of 152,944 vehicles until the end of September, which is down 15.9 per cent year-on-year.

Toyota is still on track to be the best-selling carmaker in Australia in 2026. This will make it the 31st consecutive year.

As it stands, both the diesel and Performance Hybrid versions of the LandCruiser 300 Series are above the threshold for 'Type 2' vehicles under the Australian Government's New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES).

The threshold for 'Type 2' vehicles in 2026 is 180g/km and the LC300 diesel and Performance Hybrid are claimed to emit 235g/km and 220g/km, respectively.

This theoretically means each LC300 imported into Australia attracts an NVES fine of $2750 and $2000, respectively this year. Toyota may not need to pay this fine if it can import other vehicles under the CO2 thresholds, or purchase credits from other carmakers.

Toyota has previously warned that price rises may occur, especially on models that are high-emitting.

"Due to the challenging NVES targets for commercial vehicles from 2027 onwards, we cannot rule out price increases," said Pappas.

The LandCruiser 300 Series Performance Hybrid is dubbed the most powerful LandCruiser sold to date in Australia.

It has a 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine with an electric motor for total system outputs of 341kW and 790Nm. This is 114kW and 90Nm more than the 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6 diesel.

Only two versions of the LC300 Performance Hybrid are offered in Australia - Sahara ZX and GR Sport. They're priced from $156,740 and $156,990, before on-road costs, respectively. This is roughly $9000 more than the equivalent diesel-powered version.

While the LC300 Performance Hybrid can still tow 3500kg, it only offers five seats and is claimed to consume more fuel than the diesel.