Finally, Toyota has decided launch the oil burning Prado in the Indian market. The diesel Land Cruiser Prado launches in India on 9th June’ 09 and will be powered by a 4.5 litre V8 engine which belts out a decent 282 bhp and most importantly 662 Nm of road churning torque. The engine will be mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission with 4-wheel drive ofcourse. The diesel engine is likely to improve the Prado’s off-road performance while economising on the wallet draining running costs of the petrol.

Just like the petrol Prado the diesel would also be imported as a CBU from the company’s plant in Japan. The made in Japan SUV would set you back by Rs. 45,00,000 – Rs. 48,00,000 (ex-showroom). The big price puts the Toyota in competition of European SUVs like the Porsche Cayanne, BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz M-Class, Volkswagen Toureg and the Audi Q7. At this price point it may face difficulty in clocking decent sales especially as it does not have the snob value of the others.