[Arsenic]

Toyota is developing a new 4x4 SUV that will sit in between the Urban Cruiser Hyryder and the Fortuner in Toyota India’s lineup and will aim to take on the Mahindra Scorpio-N and Thar Roxx.

The new 4x4, however, will NOT be a body-on-frame SUV - rather, it will be built on a new flexible monocoque platform which is ‘designed to accommodate a variety of body styles and powertrains’.

The new SUV could potentially come with petrol and strong hybrid powertrain options, and is expected to be produced at Toyota’s new plant in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar (formerly Aurangabad).

Source: Autocar India

Image of Toyota FJ Cruiser Concept used only for representation.

[locusjag]

A monocoque body with a 4x4 transmission - not an AWD. It got me thinking for a while. Why not? I see that Mitsubishi has done this before in other markets.

[volkman10]

Toyota's 'Mini Fortuner's' thread already exists.

Link: (Toyota is developing an SUV in a segment below the Fortuner)

[romeomidhun]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Toyota's 'Mini Fortuner's' thread already exists.

I'm confused here, as the one mentioned in this thread is a monocoque, while the other one is a ladder-frame vehicle. I don't think they are developing 2 new vehicles in 2 different architecture for the same market space. That too, when they have SUVs like Corolla Cross in other markets.

IMO, the Corolla Cross may come to India as a sub-Fortuner SUV while the ladder-frame SUV will be mainly targeted for the other markets.

Edit:

Source: https://gaadiwaadi.com/toyota-hilux-...tuner-4x4-suv/

Is this the one we are talking about? This is a ladder-frame vehicle.

[NEWTON-METERS]

It appears that Toyota has taken note of the Mahindra Thar's success and is exploring the potential for an all-new SUV to be positioned between the Hyryder and Fortuner, according to Autocar India.

Key insights:

1. This new SUV will be built on an entirely new, flexible platform—not the Fortuner’s, nor the TNGA platform that supports the Innova Hycross.
2. Things get interesting: Hormazd Sorabjee suggests that this SUV will feature a monocoque construction and offer both petrol and strong hybrid powertrains at launch.
3. A diesel variant is unlikely.
4. Production is slated to begin in 2027.

A monocoque SUV to compete with Mahindra’s ladder-on-frame vehicles is an unexpected move, raising intriguing questions about its market positioning.

However, I’m a bit confused, as Autocar had reported in July 2024 about an upcoming "FJ Cruiser." It’s unclear what the final name will be for this model. They mentioned:

1. The new Toyota off-roader will be around 4.5 meters long.
2. It will share its platform and powertrain with the Fortuner.
3. It will get petrol and diesel engine options based on a version of the IMV platform.

I initially thought the Toyota Mini Land Cruiser was set to make its global debut in Thailand in November 2024, with the platform shared with the TNGA-F global truck platform, similar to the Land Cruiser 250 that has already launched in markets like the U.S. and Australia.

[Thilak29]

One more thread among many other previous threads where Toyota has plans to expand their portfolio in India. We all know how that has fared so far. Now targeting Mahindra is a new thing, they did not get RAV4 to rival Creta segment vehicles in first place, instead they chose to rebadge Suzuki ones.

[G V Krishna]

Other members & readers might label me as a pessimist, but I do not think Toyota is even remotely considering bringing any 'New' vehicle in Indian Market. They are happy with rebadging exercises and counting huge cash stacks in the names of Innova, Fortuner, LC.

I do not see any hunger in them for capturing more Indian Market. They have all that is required, Very Good Diesel & Petrol Engines, Good Hybrid Technology, Greatest Reliability, Good models across segments (ex... RAV4), but still India is not a priority for them. We are a second-class market for them after all. Even worse than Thailand.

As long as Toyota is filling stashes of money with Innova, Fortuner and other Rebadging exercise, it won't make sense for the corporate team to invest in fresh or new models whose profitability is uncertain.

I would leave it with one last point: Any corporate company that is having good governance wouldn't create a 'false' scarce of their flagship models and let the dealers upsell them. Unfortunately, I saw this trend with Toyota Dealerships in USA & Canada as well. I simply get a feeling that Toyota is not hungrier anymore and they are happy to be stagnant.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

---

Source: https://gaadiwaadi.com/toyota-hilux-...tuner-4x4-suv/

Is this the one we are talking about? This is a ladder-frame vehicle.

This one is Toyota Hilux RANGGA SUV Concept. Press report says it is not the 500D Project.

Link:

The Mini Fortuner that all are interested, is rumored to be called the 'Land Cruiser FJ'.

[Deep Blue]

I hope we are not getting a T(J)imny!!

After the Etios and Yaris debacles, somehow I don't think Toyota has any stomach to develop a largely India specific vehicle. I hope I am proved wrong.

Now if this project does become a reality, Toyota will either price it unreasonably or have quirky and miserly set of features.

Best wishes, Toyota

[romeomidhun]

Originally Posted by volkman10

This one is Toyota Hilux RANGGA SUV Concept. Press report says it is not the 500D Project.

Link:

The Mini Fortuner that all are interested, is rumored to be called the 'Land Cruiser FJ'.

Agree.

Also, this one doesn't have the "glamour" to be a "Mini Land Cruiser", "Mini Fortuner" or even to be a competitor to Scorpio / XUV700. This one has more of an agrarian look.

Meantime, did they try to have a "Gypsy" look here - with those white hat having a cutting on the front row portion?

[Chisels121]

Originally Posted by Deep Blue

I hope we are not getting a T(J)imny!!

After the Etios and Yaris debacles, somehow I don't think Toyota has any stomach to develop a largely India specific vehicle. I hope I am proved wrong.

The Etios was a H-I-T in its time and every other cab in North India was an Etios diesel. The Liva was also very popular especially in the first car buyer segment. It makes no sense to club the Etios and Yaris together as they literally the opposite of each other.

[DicKy]

Another day, another Toyota India SUV thread, while Toyota might be readying the badges for the 7 seater Grand Vitara.

Let us try to break it down with what we have.

It all started during the Landcruiser 250/Prado launch. At the end of the presentation, they showcased a couple of silhouettes of future Landcruiser products. The right one was a large BEV under the Landcruiser name, while the other was a small off-roader, smaller than anything else in the Landcruiser family.



Initially it was named the Landcruiser Hopper by the media, but then they realised that it was the scooter like thing that had the Hopper name.

Compact Cruiser

Media speculated that it was the Compact Cruiser shown among the 16 EVs (Toyota unveils 16 Electric vehicles. To be market ready between 2022 and 2030.) showcased in 2021. It was said to be a BEV with an off-roading focus and retro styling. And slowly when they realised that the 16 vehicles shown were not really going to be pure BEVs, the media started to say that in addition to BEV, the Compact Cruiser may also have 1.5l hybrid options.

Mini Cruiser/FJ Landcruiser/ mini Fortuner

News started trickling in that the upcoming SUV was going to be a proper BoF 4x4 SUV of around 4.3-4.5m length and will be priced competitively. Western media started to speculate that it will have a 1.5l or 2.0l hybrid powertrains shared with the Corolla Cross, while Eastern media started to speculated that it will have the old 2.7l NA petrol and 2.4l diesel engines. Then there was the trademarking of the FJ Land Cruiser name. News came in from Thailand that a new SUV was being developed below the Fortuner on the existing IMV platform as the next gen Fortuner was going upmarket with the TNGA-F platform.

Mini Fortuner (Toyota is developing an SUV in a segment below the Fortuner)

7 seater Corolla Cross/ SUV for India

Now for India, Toyota decided to launch a stretched 7seater version of the Corolla Cross. Confusing. Or like @Cresterk put it.

Originally Posted by Cresterk

So the innova hycross/zenix is a 7 seater based on the corolla cross hybrid 5 seater which is a crossover based on the toyota corolla which itself is available in hatchback, sedan and estate form.

And now we will have the corolla cross as a 7 seater but in the style of the original 5 seater crossover bodyshell. Toyota is now approaching BMW 4 series gran coupe level of recursive

Longer Corolla Cross for India (Toyota working on a longer Corolla Cross for India)

Then news came that the 340D project (7 seater Corolla Cross) was cancelled due to non feasibility.

Project dropped

Then again, news came that the project was revived, but with a different body top. (Read boxier body than the Corolla Cross crossover-ish style)

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ml#post5828539 (Rumour: Toyota developing new SUV for India; plans 3rd factory)

Originally Posted by DicKy

https://Youtu.be/utknO3-Hwq0?si=51kLa_N_R_0YQWd_&t=1706

Hormazd mentions a Toyota monocoque rival to the ScorpioN at around 28:30 mark.

Is it the 340D project or a different one?

Pssttt Toyota. The 500D project would be a good ScorpioN rival, not the 340D.

In the Mahindra Roxx video, Hormazd mentions that Toyota is developing a ScorpioN rival on a monocoque platform. Now that seems interesting as he specifically mentions it as a ScorpioN rival. A usual Corolla Cross based model could have been called as a Toyota 7 seater SUV or Creta rival or XUV700 rival. But to be called specifically as a ScorpioN rival must mean that the model stands out in its approach. Have to see i it is a proper offroader that just happened to be monocoque, or if it is just another boxier version of the Corolla Cross.

Originally Posted by locusjag

A monocoque body with a 4x4 transmission - not an AWD. It got me thinking for a while. Why not? I see that Mitsubishi has done this before in other markets.

More than happy to have a monocoque 4X4 SUV, but the problem is 95% of the times, a monocoque SUV would mean transverse mounted engine, primarly FWD, basic suspension setup and at best part time/auto AWD system. Give a monocoque SUV with longitudinal mounted engine, RWD power bias with 4X4 and independent suspension all round, would be more than happy to trade in the BoF robustneness.

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

Source: https://gaadiwaadi.com/toyota-hilux-...tuner-4x4-suv/
Is this the one we are talking about? This is a ladder-frame vehicle.

It is just a modification concept for the Hilux Champ (called as Hilux Rangga in Indonesia), highlighting the modular nature of the platform. Looking at the pics, feels like it is going to address the market gap when the Innova went FWD/monocoque. The Rangga concept feels more like a modern version of the Kijang roots. The exterior looks are mis-mash, but looking at the interiors, wouldn't mind that simple Qualis like space being offered India.

Originally Posted by NEWTON-METERS

I initially thought the Toyota Mini Land Cruiser was set to make its global debut in Thailand in November 2024, with the platform shared with the TNGA-F global truck platform, similar to the Land Cruiser 250 that has already launched in markets like the U.S. and Australia.

Still doubtful if the mini Landcruiser and mini Fortuner are the same, but the Thailand one is definitely on the older IMV platform. The Hilux and Fortuner are moving to the TNGA-F platform and upmarket, hence the necessity of the Hilux Champ and the mini-Fortuner/mini Landcruiser.

[idontdrivedoi]

This just goes to show how M&M probably has the most complete lineup of SUVs in the market right now — the "lifestyle" vehicle space which is created by present generation Mahindra Thar is a place where Mahindra has a monopoly (I firmly am a proponent of the group who opines that Jimny is not a Thar competitor), and if experienced juggernauts like Toyota get in the action, we can hope for a good competition to the Thar. I'm personally one of the slim majority who thinks that the Thar's front fascia ruins the other three sides' allure, and this Toyota SUV could be considered. On another note, hope that this new factory in my city is fruitful and the local anti social factors don't drive them away like was the case with Skoda shifting all but Audi production away.

[arunrajk81]

It's not meant to just compete with the Mahindra Scorpio-N and Thar Roxx. It's a global product.

The reason is that their current off-roaders, like the Land Cruiser, Prado, 4runner and Fortuner, have become too expensive and luxurious, even abroad, for most people to take off-road.

So, what they want is a low-cost, entry-level off-roader with low-range capability, similar to the Jimny, which is being developed in the background.

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by arunrajk81

The reason is that their current off-roaders, like the Land Cruiser, Prado, 4runner and Fortuner, have become too expensive and luxurious, even abroad, for most people to take off-road.

True.

The Landcruiser had moved way upmarket decades ago, but still used to have utilitarian versions. Now the 300 series no longer has any absolute bare spec model (the GX offered is pretty loaded now), no manual transmission, no barn doors or split tailgate, no tailgate mounted spare.

The Prado/Land Cruiser 250 has also gone upmarket. No 3 door version, no utility variants, no manual transmission, no tailgate mounted spare. Toyota seems to have filled the utilitarian gap with the updated Landcruiser 70 series for most of the GCC and South American markets.

The 4Runner always had more of an leisure offroader nature, which Americans will still buy whatever the price and offroad it.

The Fortuner going upmarket had vacated the segment to the Chinese and Indian models in the developing world. Toyota knows it, hence the cheaper model being developed in Thailand.