If you've watched the news, been on social media, or really just in existence for the past few days, then surely you've been bombarded with a slew of sad and terrible images of Afghanistan's current state of affairs. As you are probably already aware, the organization known as the Taliban (which refers to itself as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) has recently overrun Afghan security forces and has just taken control of the city of Kabul.
No matter your opinion on the War in Afghanistan or your political or ideological views, whatever way we look at it, things are looking quite grim in the region right now.
If you've been paying even closer attention to these images, you may have also noticed that many of these militants are driving through the city in Toyotas. As it turns out, Toyota's "bullet-proof" reliability and toughness has not only won over soccer moms and outdoor enthusiasts but also the Taliban! As you can imagine, Toyota isn't pleased with these car owners.
To give them credit, Toyota hasn't just sat idle. Instead, they have initiated a weird but hopefully, effective measure to prevent their vehicles from falling into the hands of armed guerillas. And it all has to do with their 2022 Land Cruiser's resale policy.
Let's discuss how Toyota is making it more difficult for the Taliban to get behind the wheel of their new Land Cruiser.
Toyotas Have Often Ended Up In The Wrong Hands
As it turns out, Toyota's offerings are not only popular with the Taliban but also Al Qaeda and ISIS. If you're wondering why these individuals can't get enough of these Japanese vehicles, it has a lot to do with the need to traverse the extremely rough terrain found in the Middle East.
Additionally, they also understand that they need a vehicle that can be easily modified to accommodate weapons, shuttle soldiers, and be quick on its feet. Unfortunately, both the Hilux and the Land Cruiser check these boxes, which is why we see so many technicals with 50 caliber machine guns on the back. Weird to think how good engineering could be so nefarious, right?
You'll Have To Wait A Year Before You Sell That Land Cruiser
So, by now, you're probably wondering what this all has to do with reselling your new 2022 Land Cruiser. Well, as mentioned earlier, Toyota would very much like to stop their vehicles from ending up in conflict zones. To prevent this, they've decided that they need to prohibit terror sympathizers from getting these vehicles to them in the first place.
Ultimately, this has resulted in the following policy for the 2022 Land Cruiser being enacted: Consumers cannot resell their vehicle until a full year has elapsed since the initial purchase. While it may seem quite bizarre at first glance, it really does actually make quite a bit of sense. After all, how can terrorists get a hold of them if no one can ship them from overseas? Obviously, it's not impossible, but it is at least more difficult.
Toyota Can Actually Be Fined If Too Many Vehicles Get Into The Wrong Hands
In addition to the potential for bad publicity, Toyota also has a few legal issues to think about when it comes to known terrorist organizations getting ahold of their vehicles.
As it turns out, there is a slew of foreign exchange laws that force companies to do everything in their power to prevent their vehicles from becoming a threat to national security; failure to do so can result in massive penalties and even jail time! So as you can see, Toyota really does have a lot of motivation to intercept these vehicles before they end up in the background of a CNN report in the Middle East.