Toyota has issued an official statement admitting that some customers have to wait for too long for their Land Cruiser 300s to be delivered, and apologized for the wait.
You can see the statement posted on the official website dedicated to the new SUV. The company does not provide any explanation for the delay, aside from high demand, but mentions in passing that issues were caused by certain factories in Japan stopping.
The formal reason for the apology is the fact that the Land Cruiser 300 was too well accepted (!) in a number of countries worldwide, which culminated in a pre-order rush and virtual queues spanning up to 4 years long. The automaker ensures us that every effort will be made to shorten the waiting time and hopes for understanding. It also notes that actual waiting times may be subject to revision from time to time depending on the situation, so keeping an eye out on your order can be helpful.
The first reports about delays came in last fall. Media mentioned four-year-long queues for select trim levels, but attributed the issues to chip shortage. Apparently, factories idling in Japan was another important cause.
The Land Cruiser 300 is indeed extremely popular on its domestic market, where the company registered 20,000 pre-orders instead of the expected 5,000 or so. To complicate matters, nearly 90% of the buyers opted for top trim levels with tech-heavy premium features.