Prado power up! All-new icon tipped to borrow from LandCruiser 300 Series for masses of diesel grunt - reports

Mystery continues to swirl around the long-awaited Toyota LandCruiser Prado, but now one Japanese outlet is promising big diesel power for the updated icon.

Reports have suggested that diesel is doomed for the new model, with the Prado to instead expected to adopt a version of Toyota's Hybrid Max powertrain, which would pair a turbocharged 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with a rear-axle-mounted electric motor.

But if these new reports prove accurate, the new Prado could in fact be offered with a 3.3-litre turbo-diesel engine, similar to the one that currently appears in the LandCruiser 300 Series.

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It will be music to the ears of many Australia, who Toyota concedes are "wedded to diesel".

The reports first surfaced in Japanese publication Best Car, which suggests the new Prado will be offered with not one, but two diesel powertrain options.

The first is familiar - a 2.8-litre turbo-diesel, which appears in the current Prado, though this time offered with some sort of electrification.

That news would fit with reports that Toyota will add a 48-volt mild hybrid system to the current-generation HiLux, with the technology more focused on reducing fuel use and emissions than delivering any extra power.

It stands to reason, then, that the same electrification option would be offered on the Prado, essentially extending the life of that engine.

But it's the next option that has got us really excited, with the Japanese outlet suggesting a flagship diesel engine would also be offered - a 3.3-litre turbo diesel that would presumably dwarf the 150kW and 500Nm currently on offer in the Prado.

In the LC300, for example, the twin-turbocharged 3.3-litre V6 produces a potent 227kW and 700Nm, though it's not clear whether the publication is referring to the same engine, a detuned version of it, or something else entirely.

Either way, if the reports prove accurate, then diesel seems set to live on in the LandCruiser Prado for some time yet. Though it's important to point out that Toyota is yet to confirm what will be powering its new model, and that reports have thus far suggested several options.

What we do expect, though, is that electrification will come to the Prado in one way or another, with Toyota confirming the journey had already begun.

“It makes sense that the LandCruiser, the Prado, the HiLux and other commercial vehicles are going to have to adopt some sort of electrification as we get closer to (2030)," Toyota's sales and marketing chief, Sean Hanley, told us recently.

“When we say by 2030, I don’t want people to interpret that as 2029 and 2030. On the journey to 2030 we'll start making those arrangements.

“Acceleration of electrification right now is clear in this market - we’re seeing it. And as an agile company we need to be adaptable to those requirements.”