LandCruiser chaos coming to Australia soon? Toyota suspends all 300 Series orders as it admits it has "greatly exceeded production capacity"

Toyota in Japan has suspended all LandCruiser 300 Series orders until further notice as customer wait times in the product's domestic market now span years, not months.

The Japanese brand says global demand for its Nissan Patrol rival "greatly exceeds our production capacity", and so it has taken the extreme step of suspending all new orders until it can catch up.

How long that will be is anyone's guess, but given Japanese wait times are rumoured to be up to four years, it orders could be frozen for some time to come.

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In an update posted to the LandCruiser page of Toyota Japan's public website, the brand says:

"Apology for suspension of order. Thank you for considering our vehicle. LandCruiser has been very well received, not only in Japan but also in other countries around the world, and we are currently suspending orders because we have received orders that greatly exceed our production capacity.

"Regarding the resumption of orders, we will inform you again based on the future production situation. We apologise for the inconvenience, and thank you for your understanding."

The international flow-on effects of Toyota Japan's ordering freeze are yet to determined. With domestic orders paused, it could give the brand the opportunity to catch up on the international queue. Alternatively, orders in Australia and around the world could also be frozen.

Wait times in Australia are already stretching a reported 20 months for the mega-popular LC300, hampered not just by the number of orders its received, but also by rolling shutdowns of Toyota's Japanese factories which challenged the production schedule even further.

"Demand for new vehicles is at unprecedented levels,” a Toyota Australia spokesperson told us.

“In Australia, to support the strong demand, Toyota Australia been working closely with our global production teams to secure as many vehicles for our market as possible.

“Wait times vary depending on the model, variant and specification requirements of each customer. The RAV4 Hybrid, Camry Hybrid, LandCruiser 70 and LandCruiser 300 are in particularly high demand and currently have longer wait times."