I really take issue with the arguement that we can't have them here and that nobody would ever buy them, import costs are too high, etc.
The reality is that GM, Ford, and Dodge offer rather robust and heavy duty diesel truck offerings here in the US for a reasonable price. The HZJ78 is a very very utilitarian vehicle with a heavy duty chassis, solid axles front and rear and a diesel. How is that any different than a Dodge Turbo Cummins Diesel PU? Sure you can argue about the lockers, but even now that is more and more of a moot point and certainly wouldn't warrant a massive cost increase. Don't even begin to tell me how much more reliable the Toyota is. We have a fleet of 18 or so Dodge PUs, all Diesel, and at this point some have 300K miles on the odometer with no more than standard maintenance. Furthermore there are certainly ways to get around import tariff issues, just manufacture the damn thing here.
In my opinion we will never see it here, not because it is cost prohibitive, but rather Toyota has moved the LC marquee so far upmarket that it feels it cannot reverse course. This is no different than what LR did with the damn Defender. Instead of selling the workhorse at workhorse prices, we pay Kentucky Derby winner prices for at best basic albeit it amazingly robust and functional hardware.
Do I still want one... hell yes. I don't buy for one minute though that we can't have them here because nobody would buy them and that the cost would be too high. If Toyota really wanted it in this market at a reasonable price point it could easily be done.
