Prospect of two distinct looks, depending on where it is sold.

TEASER images of the Land Cruiser Prado shared by Toyota in the run-up to the full unveiling next week suggest two distinct appearances will be offered, depending on the market.

Media analysts forecast a standard design is expected for Asia-Pacific and a more rugged look for North America and Europe.

Reports on this today say it is unclear if the off-road-focused variant – potentially wearing GR Sport badging already seen on the big brother 300 Series – will be offered alongside the luxury-focused option, or vice versa.

The future of the Prado name in some markets is still unclear.

Whether it is relevant to this market that Toyota Australia, for one, did not refer to the new model as a 'Prado' in a social media post this week is not known.

Toyota New Zealand seems to be among few major markets for the current model that is remaining mum about the new. Perhaps that will change when the next-gen rig unveils, at 1pm New Zealand time on August 2.

However, it’s also possible TNZ is being coy because LandCruiser is among models that vex its campaign to lower fleet-wide CO2 counts, in line with Government’s Clean Car legislation. While LandCruiser 300 is still available, supply has been choked. Same goes for the Lexus LX equivalent.

In Australia, the reference has been to it as the “all-new 2024 Land Cruiser” despite the availability of the 300 Series locally.

Wheels magazine is among outlets that cite previous reports that have suggested the LandCruiser Prado name would be replaced by LandCruiser 250 in Japan.

Many of the images here today are from Toyota US. Japan last month has confirmed the LandCruiser nameplate will return to North America, after a long absence. The reinforce this it provisioned an image of an off-road SUV alongside the 60-year-old FJ40 Land Cruiser.

The new Prado/250 is a spin-off from the Lexus GX, which goes to North America. Both have the same familiar shape, but it’s becoming patent the more mainstream has unique Toyota design cues, such as a chunkier grille and larger tail-lights.

Next week’s unveiling is not a production kick-off, though that might be close. or not.

Some Japanese media reports have it that the 2024 model’s actual global launch might yet not occur until next year. others suggest it will happen next month or September.