It would be a rare privilege for anyone to be among the first people outside of the manufacturer’s company to drive an all-new vehicle. But that’s just what a select group of Australian motoring journalists were when they gathered at the Australian Automotive Research Centre (AARC), near Anglesea in Victoria on a cold, wet day back in May.
Such is the importance of the Australian market to Japanese auto giant Toyota when it comes to its four-wheel-drive vehicles, that this small group of press were the first non-Toyota employees to drive one of its LandCruiser 300 Series prototypes. Rarefied ground indeed.
Toyota Australia engineers had been working on the 300 Series program for more than seven years up to this date, because back in Japan, they see Australia as the ‘Home of Land Cruiser’ and the local terrain as the perfect ground for testing.
CUSTOMER FEEDBACK
BEFORE a spanner was turned to build a prototype, or a sketch drawn of what a new LandCruiser might look like, Toyota looked hard at what the new car needed to be. For this they went back to the customer and spoke to many existing LandCruiser owners in all parts of Australia to see why they owned a LandCruiser, how they used it, and what they might want from a new one.
“It’s all about the customer. What they do with it and where they drive it,” said TMCA Chief of Evaluation and testing, Ray Munday, as we gathered in a secretive shed that Toyota leases full-time at AARC.
What came from this research was that Australian LandCruiser owners wanted a diesel engine and they bought a Cruiser for its durability and comfort when driving over long distances.
この記事は 4x4 Magazine Australia の September 2110 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は 4x4 Magazine Australia の September 2110 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
OUTBACK WATERING HOLES
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BIG COUNTRY
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ISLAND PARADISE
NEAR THE TOP OF THE BUCKET LIST FOR EVERY AUSSIE FOUR-WHEEL DRIVER, K'GARI IS PACKED WITH STUNNING HIGHLIGHTS AND BOASTS SOME OF THE BEST BEACH DRIVING IN THE COUNTRY
WEIGHTLIFTING
INCREASING THE GVM OF YOUR 4X4 SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN LIGHTLY, BUT BY THE SAME TOKEN SHOULD NOT BE AVOIDED IF YOU NEED IT. WE GO THROUGH THE PROCESS ON OUR FORD RANGER TO EXPLAIN HOW TO GET IT RIGHT
NOW HEAR THIS
THE CEL-FI GO MOBILE BOOSTER WILL KEEP EMAILS, MESSAGES AND CALLS COMING THROUGH TO YOUR DEVICES WHEN EVERYBODY ELSE IS HEARING CRICKETS
LOOKING BACK
A PAIR OF MSA 4X4 TOWING MIRRORS ENSURE WE ALWAYS KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON BEHIND US WHEN WE HAVE A TRAILER HITCHED TO OUR MITSUBISHI TRITON
TRUCKIN' LIFE
CAN FORD AUSTRALIA'S NEW F-150 BE AN ACCOMPLISHED OFF-ROAD TOURING 4X4?
WHAT LURKS BENEATH
IT MAY LOOK LIKE A FAIRLY STANDARD (IF CLEAN) 80 SERIES, BUT DIVE A LITTLE DEEPER AND YOU'LL FIND A MONSTER BELOW THE SURFACE
EYE OF THE HURRICANE
RAM HAS DUMPED ITS HEMI V8FOR A SIX-CYLINDER, AND IT'S COMING TO AUSTRALIA
GETTING TANKED
GWM EXPANDS IT TANK 4X4 RANGE WITH THE LUXURIOUS TANK 500 WAGON