Where Are Toyota Land Cruisers Made? (Solved & Explained)

Debuting in 1951, Toyota Land Cruisers are one of the oldest vehicle series in the carmaker’s lineup.

These vehicles come in off-road and comfort versions. For these reasons, two Land Cruisers may vary in style and design.

However, there is something common to all Land Cruisers: they are all durable four-wheel drives.

In this article, we discuss where the venerable Land Cruiser is made.

Where Are Toyota Land Cruisers Being Made?

So far, Toyota Land Cruisers have been produced in the following countries: Japan, China, Venezuela, Indonesia and Brazil. The latest off-road version of the Land Cruiser was built at the Yoshiwara plant in Aichi, Japan and the Cumana plant in Venezuela.

The newest comfort Land Cruiser vehicle, the J200, was produced at the Yoshiwara and Tahara plants in Aichi, Japan and the Sichuan plant in China.

Production of previous versions of the Land Cruiser were carried out in at least one of these five countries: Japan, China, Brazil, Venezuela and Indonesia.

For instance, the J40 Land Cruiser, an off-road vehicle, was made at Toyota City in Japan and Sao Bernardo factory, Brazil.

Are Toyota Land Cruisers for the US Market Produced in the US?

Toyota Land Cruisers have never been built in the US. Except for some J20, J30 and J40 Land Cruisers, Toyota confines the production of Land Cruisers to its factories in Asia.

Make sure to also read our article about driving the Toyota Land Cruiser in snow and winter.

Are They Assembled in the US?

No factory in the United States assembles Toyota Land Cruisers.

How Can You Check Where a Specific Toyota Land Cruiser Was Produced?

You can determine where your Land Cruiser was built through the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on your vehicle’s dashboard.

The VIN is a set of 17 characters that encode essential information about your car.

Such elements include the model year, the brand name, and the country where it was manufactured.

The first character on the VIN indicates the location where it was produced. This character may be a number or letter, depending on whether the vehicle was built on the American continent. 

When the first character is a number, it means that your car was manufactured in an American country.

Letters indicate that the factory that produced your vehicle is not located in America.

In addition, some countries may be represented by a combination of letters and numbers, and take the first and second positions on the VIN.

Since Land Cruisers have been produced both within and outside the American continent, the first character on the VIN may be a letter or a number.

These are what these characters mean when they come first on your Land Cruiser’s VIN:

• J means your Land Cruiser was produced in Japan.
• L means your Land Cruiser was built in China.
• Combinations between MF-MK indicate that your Land Cruiser was manufactured in Indonesia.
• Combinations between 8X-82 indicate that your Land Cruiser was produced in Venezuela.
• Combinations between 9A-9E indicate that your vehicle was built in Brazil.

Please also read our article on 11 Toyota Land Cruiser statistics.

Are Japanese or European Built Land Cruisers Better?

Toyota does not make Land Cruisers in Europe. So, there are no European built Land Cruisers to compare against Japanese built versions.

Where Are Toyota Land Cruisers Designed?

Toyota Land Cruisers are designed in Japan.

Where Are Land Cruisers Made for the Australian Market?

The Australian market imports its stock of Toyota Land Cruisers from Japan.

Where Are Land Cruisers Made for the Canadian Market?

Formerly, Land Cruisers sold in the Canadian market were produced at the Yoshiwara plant in Japan. Today, the Canadian market no longer sells Toyota Land Cruisers to the public.

Also read our article on where the Toyota RAV4 is made.

Where Are Land Cruisers Made for the UK Market?

The Toyota Land Cruisers sold in the UK are built in Japan.

Is Toyota Planning to Move Its Production?

At the moment, Toyota has no plans to move production of the Land Cruiser to new countries.

Instead, car experts, like Jonny Lieberman of MotorTrend, say that Toyota may stop producing the Land Cruiser by 2022.

According to them, the Land Cruiser’s design is too outdated to compete with its rival models from other premium brands.

Quickly scan our article that talks about 3 Most-Common Problems With Toyota Land Cruiser

Is Toyota Hiring or Firing in the US?

Toyota has already employed new members of staff in the USA. Judging by the number of job vacancies the US division released recently, it intends to hire more workers within the year.

In contrast, the company has stated that it will not fire some of its employees like its rival car brands.

In March 2020, the company’s sales fell by 37%. Rather than dismiss some of its employees, Toyota will decrease their pay.

Toyota will only reduce the pay of temporary staff. For full-time staff, two days’ worth of pay will be removed from their salaries.

Is Toyota an American Company?

Toyota is not an American company. It is a Japanese company with global operations and factories and branches established on all continents of the world.

You should also probe into the best and worst Toyota Land Cruiser years.

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