Toyota Could Put the Land Cruiser ROX Into Production

...We just need to convince the company to do it.

Toyota brought a whole bunch of toys to SEMA 2024, from a GR 86 with the GR Corolla's heart (and an iconic livery) to a retro-tastic two-door take on the upcoming 2025 4Runner. Arguably one of the coolest however was the Land Cruiser ROX, a pickup-shaped, open-air version of the relaunched off-roader. Far from a pie-in-the-sky concept, the ROX—or something like it—could eventually arrive on the floor of your local dealership.

That surprise comes to us courtesy of Kevin Hunter, President of Toyota's Calty Design Research studio. Hunter sat down with us for a special SEMA 2024 edition of the AutoGuide podcast to talk about the ROX and how the design team approached it. Calty was responsible for the design of the production model of this latest Land Cruiser—dubbed the 250—and thus it was a natural extension for the studio to tackle this concept. Hunter explains that the team paid close attention to the production readiness of the concept, however.

"Land Cruiser ROX is really a message about the profile, the body derivative. Because it's based on 250, I think it's reasonable to say this is a product we could produce," said Hunter during our ROX talk. "Not saying we're going to, that's another stretch," he quickly added with a laugh. "But we wanted to make it believable as 'hey, this is something in our orbit that we could do,' you know, without creating a whole new vehicle."

With multiple production designs under its belt, the Calty crew are no strangers to the needs of production. Hunter points out that the bodywork ahead of the B-pillar is all untouched 'Cruiser. Okay, those four-inch-wider wheel arches aren't, but they bolt-on, and there are no adjustments necessary to fit the big 37-inch tires found on the concept either. Cost is key: "if we create something here that's going to require a lot of cost-up," explains Hunter, "then we're not doing our enthusiasts any favor."

The message is clear in the cabin of the ROX too: there are reskinned seats here and new colors there, but none of the hard points in the front half of the cabin are different.

Remember, the Land Cruiser rides on the same TNGA-F platform as the Lexus GX and LX, as well as the '25 4Runner and Tacoma. A truck is not a big stretch, and there's enough clear air between the lifestyle approach of the ROX and the Tacoma TRD Pro to justify another pickup option.

Hunter also talked about the design process of the vehicle, as well as the significance of using the rectangular lights instead of the roundies found on the base and First Edition trims. "We talked about it a bit and the rectangular lights were the original ones we designed into the Land Cruiser when we [Calty] the team worked on it," says Hunter. "We just thought for this version it had a bit more techy image. We're doing some throwback things; the color, the Spring Green color, is a throwback vintage Land Cruiser color. We warmed it up a bit, and just tuned it up a bit, modernized it, but it's all inspired by that."

Years ago when the GR Yaris debuted, Toyota America put out feelers for a GR hatch to call our own—one we now know as the GR Corolla. We suggest to Hunter that folks interested in ROX should voice approval like that once more, and he agrees. He leaves us on this hopeful message about the Land Cruiser derivative: "it does have meaning. It has real meaning, actually."

You heard the man: let Toyota know if you'd be interested in a production model similar to the Land Cruiser ROX concept.

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