Indian Autos blog

Our sources in the automotive industry, who prefer to remain anonymous, tell us the facelifted Toyota Land Cruiser Prado shown at the ongoing Frankfurt Motor Show will be launched in India “shortly.”

The Toyota Land Cruiser Prado is sold in India as a CBU and only with a petrol engine. Toyota has sold only 40 units of the LC Prado in India this year and this facelift (along with the Fortuner’s diesel engine?) could place it right in the middle of the Q5-X5 battle.

The revamped Toyota Land Cruiser Prado with its macho styling is one of the delights at the Frankfurt Show this year. Leaked shots and spec sheets have not prompted Toyota to go low-key with the Prado’s launch. They’ve still come out to Germany and put their Fortuner-engined Prado on display.

Yes, you heard that right – The Toyota Prado comes with a 3.0-litre D-4D turbo common rail diesel engine coupled to a 5-speed automatic transmission. It produces 171bhp at 3,400rpm and maximum torque of 410Nm between 1,600 and 2,800rpm.

A ground breaking feature on the Prado is the Multi-terrain Select, which automatically controls power and braking according to the off-road surface, while providing you live video feeds through the four cameras placed around the car!

The official press release says the vehicle goes on sale in Britain from the 1st of December 2009. No word on the Indian launch date, but we think it is around the corner, an official announcement can be expected shortly.

Read the full press release after the jump which is better at explaining the technology and equipment than us.

Toyota Kirloskar Motors has decided to launch a diesel version of SUV Land Cruiser Prado in Mumbai on 9th June ’09. Just like the petrol version, the diesel Prado will be imported as a CBU from Japan and will cost Rs. 40-50 lakh (4.5L V8 Diesel/282Bhp/662Nm)

Yet again, some Japanese car magazine’s published a computer-generated rendering of what they say could possibly be the 2010 Toyota Prado. We’re just hoping Toyota has nothing to do with this!

The current version of the Toyota Prado has been around for six years. With the new 2010 version, the company planned to give some tough competition to Audi Q5, BMW X3, and Mitsubishi Montero. Sadly, the rendered Prado shown here doesn’t look even half as good as the Mitsubishi Montero (no point comparing it with Audi Q5), and you wouldn’t be wrong if you call it a Tata Sumo Grande with an uglier Toyota Innova grille.

But then, one can never say, given the Prado’s superior off-road capabilities, looks wouldn’t matter that much to the Sheiks!