2024 Toyota Prado spotted testing in Victoria

The 2024 Toyota Prado has been spotted testing in regional Victoria with some previously unseen accessories.

The upcoming '250 Series' Prado – due to arrive in Australia mid-year – was seen in the town of Bacchus Marsh, 50km north-west of Melbourne, earlier this week sporting a number of new parts – with the photos posted shortly afterwards on social media by Facebook user Matt Moed.

Configured in right-hand drive, with the rectangular headlights due to be fitted to Australia-spec models, the Prado is wearing a newly-designed snorkel and bull-bar colour-coded in the new Tanami Taupe finish, as well as a winch and red-painted recovery points – all of which appear to be future products available in the Toyota genuine accessories range.

The appearance of the new Prado on our roads is nothing new, with Toyota previously having confirmed it is testing the vehicle on local soil, but the addition of the new accessories has Prado fans excited.

A spokesperson for Toyota told Drive: “We are conducting local testing on the LandCruiser Prado, which is coming later this year, including accessory testing.”

In March this year, photos of a disguised 2024 Toyota LandCruiser Prado spotted at Melbourne airport emerged on social media – sparking speculation that the brand could be working on a new powertrain for the top-selling four-wheel drive.

A Toyota Australia spokesperson confirmed at the time "the vehicle is here as part of regular global work by our local evaluation and development engineers, which often involves non-Australian specification", but gave no other details.

The new Prado is due in Australian showrooms later this year with a 150kW/500Nm 2.8-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder with 48-volt mild-hybrid technology – while overseas there is a 243kW/630Nm hybrid that pairs a 2.4-litre turbo four-cylinder petrol engine with an electric motor.

The mild-hybrid technology will not be marketed as a 'hybrid' in Australia as it only powers auxiliary systems such as lights and air conditioning to take the load off the engine to trim fuel use – and its electric motor cannot directly drive the wheels, as with other Toyota hybrid passenger cars and SUVs.

Australian buyers will be able to choose from five model grades in Toyota showrooms: GX, GXL, VX, Kakadu and Altitude.

A 3500kg braked towing capacity has been confirmed across the range, as have rectangular headlights – rather than the circular lighting design offered on some models in the US and Europe.

Prices are yet to be confirmed, however, increases are expected over the $62,830 to $87,468 plus on-road costs of the current model to coincide with the larger body, new technology, and electrified boost to the engine.