5 Reasons Why Toyota Building A Baby Land Cruiser Would Make Perfect Sense

Cars and trucks have grown significantly over the last few decades, not just in terms of their bumper-to-bumper dimensions, but in overall weight as well. Increasing levels of technology and comfort over time have added to vehicle weight, with safety equipment like side-curtain airbags, creature comforts like heated-and-cooled seats, and heavy-duty battery tech for EVs –- all contributing to greater heft. But that doesn’t stop automotive enthusiasts from yearning for lightweight motoring. 

As an automotive writer and editor, I’ve been testing and reviewing cars for over 15 years (many of them off-road), and that entire time, there’s always been significant interest in smaller, simpler, and more affordable, motoring. Even if we just consider things like the growing enthusiasm around tiny Kei trucks and the flurry of attention garnered by cheap transport like the newly revealed Slate truck, that would be evidence enough of a lust for smaller cars. Add in the success of small trucks like the Ford Maverick and compact off-roaders like the Subaru Crosstrek, and it makes perfect sense for Toyota to cash in on this enthusiasm with a small off-roader of their own, building on the brand identity established by the highly capable Land Cruiser. A concept car called the Compact Cruiser EV revealed by Toyota president Akio Toyoda in 2021 looks like they stuck a modern Land Cruiser in the microwave and shrunk it down a bit. It has similar side cladding, it uses similar blue paint, and off-roading is a part of its mission statement; the perfect candidate. 

The latest Land Cruiser redesign in 2024 brought hybridization to the lineup and lots of modern tech. The Land Cruiser shares a platform with trucks and SUVs like the Tacoma and the 4Runner (the TNGA-F global truck platform), both of which get hybrid powertrains, so the hybrid i-Force Max powertrain was a natural fit. That setup would likely be too large to work in something like the Compact Cruiser, though, especially not if we want it to be truly compact. 

The Urban Cruiser EV that’s been revealed for European markets could serve as a donor car for the powertrain, offering both 49 kWh and 61 kWh battery choices. The Urban Cruiser is properly city-sized too, measuring in at 168.7 inches long (4,285 mm) compared to the beefy size of the Land Cruiser at 196.4 inches. The Urban Cruiser’s batteries wouldn’t provide much power overall (output is less than 200 hp on either version of the Urban Cruiser), but they’d have decent range in a small Compact Cruiser platform. Toyota estimates as high as 265 miles on a single charge for the Urban Cruiser with the larger battery. Not every EV owner needs the sort of maximum 500-mile-plus range provided by big luxury sedans like the Lucid Air, especially if a future vehicle like the Compact Cruiser is priced properly. 

A Compact Cruiser with an affordable price tag could be a big come-up for Toyota. If the Compact Cruiser is able to significantly undercut the standard Land Cruiser and some of Toyota’s other EVs, it could be a big success. A base-trim 2025 Land Cruiser 1958 has an MSRP of $58,195 (including $1,495 destination fee). It’s considered a pretty luxurious model amongst Toyota’s SUVs, so that steep price would likely be well beyond the Compact Cruiser. The latest prices for Toyota’s small EV, the 2025 bZ4X, are significantly lower. Base trim bZ4X’s start at $38,520 (including $1,450 destination fee), going up to $41,870 at the top of the range.

If the Compact Cruiser is priced above the bZ4X and below the standard Land Cruiser, it could appeal to a unique set of buyers who are interested in rugged design and affordable EV transport. Some estimates have the Compact Cruiser’s starting price landing between $35,000 and $45,000, but so far, those are only guesses.

Big off-road bruisers are all around us. Trucks like the Ford F-150 Raptor, Ram 1500 RHO, and Chevrolet Silverado 1500 ZR2 all prove that off-roading can be done in large pickups. They can jump over massive sand dunes and conquer the great outdoors with ease. SUVs like the Bronco Raptor, Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, and even Toyota’s own 4Runner in its various off-road trims, are all highly capable off-road too, and they’re a bit smaller than the full-size pickups, which helps on tight trails and in city-sized parking lots.

For even more size-conscious off-roading terrain, though, something like the Compact Cruiser would make much more sense. Off-roading often happens on narrow trails, with trees, rocks, and other obstacles to maneuver around in your vehicle. The smaller your off-roader, the less likely you are to scrape a door or side panel, which is especially beneficial if you’re in densely wooded areas. What’s more, there’s already a competitor for the Compact Cruiser to go up against; Rivian has recently taken the wraps off their upcoming compact hatchback, the R3, and the adventure-friendly R3X trim would be the perfect rival for the Compact Cruiser.

With regulations regarding electrified vehicles in the United States in a bit of a limbo right now, and EV tax credits going away in just a few short months, it’s hard to predict what automakers will do over the next few years. European regulations are continuing to shift towards the proliferation of electric vehicles, but gas-guzzling pickups and big V8s are standing strong here in the States — Dodge is even talking about bringing back V8s in cars where they were recently discontinued. Toyota introduced the Compact Cruiser EV amid plans to build 30 battery electric vehicles by 2030, but with the changing landscape, that could shift.

It would make sense, then, for Toyota to make multiple versions of the Compact Cruiser, including both an EV and a regular hybrid, or even a plug-in hybrid model. Need a vehicle to source the powertrain from? Luckily, Toyota has a big parts bin. The newest RAV4 could provide a hybrid powertrain for the Compact Cruiser, especially because it will be available with multiple powertrains to choose from. The first choice, a standard hybrid, will employ Toyota’s 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine and their fifth-generation hybrid system for a total of 226 horsepower. The plug-in version of the upcoming RAV4 pumps things up to 320 hp and offers 50 miles of electric-only range. If those setups were transferred over to the Compact Cruiser, along with an available all-electric variant, it would have broad appeal.

There are several small, impressive off-roaders that have been launched or refreshed in recent years that prove buyers are looking for something compact and capable. The Ford Bronco Sport was recently refreshed, and it shows that simple, adventurous fun can be had in a small package. The Honda CR-V, one of the strongest offerings in the small crossover segment, recently added a TrailSport package to better align with larger, more capable Honda SUVs. And, of course, there are a number of Subaru vehicles that are aimed at outdoorsy buyers, especially more-capable-than-average versions like the Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness model. Properly sized, properly priced, and adequately equipped with Toyota’s off-road tech, the Compact Cruiser could do very well in this segment of vehicles. The Compact Cruiser doesn’t need to be as large as the standard Land Cruiser, nor does it need big towing capability — it just needs to tap into the desire for adventure that these other vehicles have already shown exists.