Need an SUV in 4 years? Better order your Land Cruiser right now

The Toyota Land Cruiser is so hot in Japan that Toyota Motor Corp. is telling customers the wait for delivery has stretched to four years.

That is up from an already jaw-dropping two-year wait back in September.

On everyone's wish list is the redesigned new-generation Land Cruiser 300 Series introduced last August. It rides on a new GA-F platform that also underpins the Lexus LX full-size SUV.

The long lead time applies only to orders made in the home market, Toyota said.

And even though the Land Cruiser and LX are made in the same factory, the Yoshiwara assembly plant operated by Toyota affiliate Toyota Auto Body, the wait won't apply to the LX, Toyota said.

Americans will not be affected because Toyota has discontinued the Land Cruiser in the U.S.

The delay results from Toyota's global allotment strategy for the new Land Cruiser. Japan is allotted only a fraction of worldwide output, so when demand is high, there is a crunch.

The bulk of Land Cruiser output heads to the Middle East, which accounted for about two-thirds of global sales for the outgoing 200 Series.

Developed in Japan in 1951 as a localized answer to the Willys Jeep, the Land Cruiser is Toyota's longest-running model line and linked to its very first days in the U.S.