Is leaked information good for business?

When you consider what leaking information in the automotive world means the answer is normally a resounding “yes”.  When a picture of a new model is somehow inadvertently revealed to the press certainly right after the fact the company typically shows up to explain to the world what we are witnessing and what will be the new item.  Sometimes when a change is so dramatic it needs a full explanation before the vehicle is revealed the company will want to keep a lid on things, but more and more we are seeing leaks nearly a month ahead of the announcement from the company, which typically piques our interest.

Such is the car for the next generation of the Toyota Land Cruiser.  Currently we have seen the third leak of the new styling of the vehicle which certainly can’t be on purpose.  The Land Cruiser has not been redesigned since 2008 and according to Toyota standards it time to update and upgrade this hardy off road machine that takes us wherever we need to go, but currently offers outdated electronics and a bit of an older look than much of the rest of the Toyota SUV lineup.

What we see from the supposedly leaked pictures is the new Land Rover will gain new lights on the front and rear along with new bumpers and some chrome on the front grill.  The pictures reveal the body panels have been altered to give a boxier look and the wheels will feature a brand new alloy design.  All of this can be easily revealed from the exterior photos that were offered as a look at a new vehicle in a clandestine manner, they were revealed by users of Instagram as have been the previous two leaks, but this recent one was from a different user account.

On the inside, the instrument cluster will be redesigned along with the center console.  There are supposed to be offered several luxury features that would bring it in line with the Lexus LX 570, which shares the same platform.  One thing you can’t tell from pictures is the engine that will be under the hood, but the expectation is the current 5.7-liter V8 will be offered to push out 381 horsepower and 401 lb.-ft. of torque.  What is really interesting is how are these pictures getting leaked and revealed and these Instagram users are not losing their jobs?

Without a doubt, this new version of a marketing tool works well for all automakers as it did earlier in the year for the new Camaro which has pictures and features leaked early as well.  This gives the auto maker the opportunity to measure the public opinion, see what the interest in this new vehicle is and make sure they don’t need to make drastic changes before the new vehicle heads to production.  These early leaks also get us talking about what is coming and what it may have in store for us, giving the automaker some excellent publicity with very little effort, so leaking pictures and information regarding new vehicles is certainly a positive move for automakers.