Has the new Toyota Prado really gone soft?

The Ford v Holden rivalry is dead… but the Ford v Toyota rivalry is just getting started.

It’s already intense in the battle for both ute supremacy but also the title of ‘Australia’s best-selling vehicle’ as the Ford Ranger goes head-to-head with both the Toyota HiLux and RAV4. And it will get more heated in 2026 when Toyota joins the Supercar grid and tries to beat Ford on the racetrack.

But the latest duel between these two is for the hearts and sales of Australia’s off-roaders, with the new Toyota LandCruiser Prado arriving to take on the Ford Everest. It’s already been a heated start to the contest, which Ford claimed the upper-hand on at the start of 2025, having topped the sales charts for large SUVs in 2024.

While one could, quite reasonably, argue that Ford’s sales success last year was in large part due to the changeover from the old Prado to the new one, the blue oval seemingly bristled at the suggestion. Ford Australia marketing boss, Ambrose Henderson, even went so far as to use the ‘c-word’ in reference to the new Prado (compromise, not the other c-word).

“Really top of mind for us on everything we do is delivering for customers what they want and what they’re telling us and making no compromise on that. And our strong belief is we’ve done that and that’s why we got the results that we did last year,” Henderson declared at the launch of the Everest Tremor.

Now, in fairness, Henderson went on to call Toyota a “formidable competitor” but then made it crystal clear that he feels the new Prado is compromised in key areas that impact buyers of these big, rugged SUVs.

His main dig was the boot of the new Prado, specifically the seven-seater GXL, VX and Kakadu variants, which features a plastic riser box in order to have the third-row seats fold into a flat floor when not in use. This is reportedly due to the new to package the new 48-volt battery for the mild-hybrid system at the rear end of the vehicle, alongside the 110-litre fuel tank, 17-litre AdBlue tank and, of course, the spare wheel.

Certainly from a practicality perspective, the Everest is the better alternative, with its third-row seats folding into the floor providing a flatter, lower load area that is only fractionally smaller on paper (8L) but is real-world dramatically superior.

But that’s one aspect of the Prado, and while carrying luggage is incredibly important, particularly for those who like long road trips into remote areas, the boot does not define the Prado and it would be simplistic to suggest this compromises the Toyota significantly. However, it is one of a number of smaller issues that do suggest this latest Prado has missed the mark in some key areas.

Take the sun visor as another example. Thanks to the bigger, boxier design of this new model, the front door windows are much squarer and allow more light into the cabin. Which is good as it makes the cabin feel brighter, but does become a problem when the sun is rising or setting. That’s because for some reason Toyota opted not to make either a longer sun visor or make it extendable or sliding, the net result being the visor only covers half the window, specifically the front half, and therefore leaves you with the sun smashing the side of your face for large portions of the day. That again may sound like a small issue, but if you’re driving for hours on or off-road with the sun hitting the side of your face, that makes for an unpleasant journey.

It’s another issue, like the boot, that suggests Toyota has been compromised, but largely by its own decisions on the design of the Prado. However, these decisions also bring some major enhancements.

Underneath it features new underpinnings, the so-called TNGA-F architecture that’s also the foundation of the bigger LandCruiser 300-Series. This has empowered Toyota to completely redesign the look of the Prado, giving it a fantastic blend of bold, modern design but with some obvious nods to the past. Frankly, in this reviewer’s opinion, it looks great and is a major leap forward from its predecessor.

There are five trim grades to choose from – GX, GXL, VX, Kakadu and the off-road focused Altitude – and we’ve now driven several to get an understanding of what the range offers. Certainly, there is a noticeable difference between the entry-level GX, the more premium Kakadu and the more rugged Altitude that we drove, and that’s a positive because too often these days different trim levels can feel too similar. While still clearly hard-working off-roaders, the higher grade models do have a premium feeling to the cabin, which will make those longer trips more comfortable.

The other really noticeable design feature in the cabin is Toyota’s dramatically different approach to switchgear. While so many brands are removing as many buttons, dials and other physical controls, we counted at least 50 buttons or dials spread around the cabin. While that may sound like a lot, at least in this reviewer’s opinion that’s a major positive. Not to sound like a Luddite, but this modern trend of large screens at the expense of physical controls is a frustrating one as it more-often-than-not just makes it harder and more distracting to use the many functions you need in a car. Thankfully Toyota has taken a more sensible, user-friendly path for the Prado.

The other functional part of the new boxier design is a clearer view of your surroundings (possible sun in your eyes aside), which is just what you need for off-roading. And make no mistake, while the new Prado may have a compromised boot, with the new TNGA-F architecture, it has serious off-road capability.

There’s also a new powertrain for this new model which, as mentioned earlier, features a 48-volt mild-hybrid system, along with a 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel engine. Making 150kW of power and 500Nm of torque, it’s paried with an eight-speed automatic transmission (also new) and a full-time all-wheel drive system with dual-range transfer case and central lockable limited slip differential.

While there are certainly some compromises and areas Toyota could have made the Prado better, these are largely able to be overlooked thanks to the otherwise major enhancements across the rest of the vehicle.

And certainly, despite what Ford says, it’s clear that Australian customers are flocking to the new Prado. In the first quarter of 2025, with both Prado and Everest on sale, the Toyota out-sold the Ford by more than 3400 units. But still, don’t expect the rivalry between these two to subside anytime soon…